Star WarsHalo: When Galaxies Collide
by AzureSpider
Summary: This is a crossover for my two favorite Sci-Fis in all the galaxy! Note that this crosses over with Halo and the Knights of the Old Republic Games. Rated T for language violence. Note that this is an older Fan-Fic, and as such not up to the standards of later works. Still worth a look though.
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

Dramitaes Personae

The UNSC  
Commander Carter-SPARTAN III A-259 (Human Male)  
Lieutenant Commander Kat-SPARTAN III B-320 (Human Female)  
Warrant Officer Jun-SPARTAN III A-266 (Human Male)  
Warrant Officer Emile-SPARTAN III A-239 (Human Male)  
Lieutenant Noble 6-SPARTAN III B-312 (Human Male)  
Master Chief-SPARTAN II John 117 (Human Male)  
Cortana-"Smart" AI; companion to the Master Chief (Female Artificial Intelligence)  
Jacob Keyes-Captain in the UNSC. Captain of the Pillar of Autumn (Human Male)  
Avery Johnson-Sergeant in the UNSC (Human Male)  
Pete Stacker-Sergeant in the UNSC (Human Male)  
Fred-SPARTAN II 104 (Human Male)  
Kelly-SPARTAN II 087 (Human Female)  
Linda-SPARTAN II 058 (Human Female)  
Jorge-SPARTAN II 052 (Human Male)  
Kurt-SPARTAN II 051 (Human Male)  
Catherine Halsey-ONI Scientist. Creator of the SPARTAN-II Program (Human Female)

The Republic and the Jedi Order  
Carth Onasi-Republic Admiral (Human Male)

Vrook Lamar-Jedi Master (Human Male)

Daemon-Enigmatic Jedi Knight* (Human Male)

Luane-Republic General* (Human Male)  
Nortom-Republic Soldier and Pilot* (Human Male)

The Sith Empire  
Darth Revan- Dark Lord of the Sith. An icon among those in the Sith Empire (Human Male)

Darth Bastila-Sith Lord. Revan's apprentice and lover (Human Female)  
HK-47-Darth Revan's personal Assassin Droid (HK-47 Assassin Droid)  
Drakot-Sith Master* (Human Male)  
Skell-Sith Trooper* (Human Male)  
Yuit-Sith Trooper* (Human Male)

The Covenant  
Thel 'Vadamee-Covenant Fleet Master and Supreme Commander (Sangheili Male)  
Reggad 'Nogardee-Elite Major* (Sangehili Male)  
Denn 'Rebualee-Spec Ops Elite*(Sangheili Male)  
Lellt 'Retee-Elite Minor*(Sangheili Male)  
Dranol' Nosrednee-Elite Minor*(Sangheili Male)  
Revotus-Brute Chieftain* (Jiralhanae Male)

Chapter 1: Prologue

Revenge was his.

Revan, who had only recently reclaimed his title of Dark Lord of the Sith, stood triumphant over his traitorous apprentice Malak, who, a year ago, had taken a cheap, cowardly shot at him from afar, left him to die, and then took over his magnificent empire and turned it against him, raising new recruits and disciples to spit on his very name and memory.

But no longer.

Revan, following months of being brainwashed and manipulated by the accursed Jedi Order, had at last remembered who he was and had reclaimed his title. There were those among his party that did not embrace him in his dark identity, and they had to die. Now, with his lover and new apprentice Bastila Shan and his loyal assassin droid HK-47 at his side, Revan had re-taken the Star Forge, killed all the Sith loyal to Malak, and had now mortally wounded Malak himself. On his knees, with lightsaber cuts and burns all over his body, the traitor wheezed through his metallic jaw:

"Im-*cough* impossible. I…*cough* cannot be beaten. I, am the Dark Lord of the Sith…*cough*"

"No Malak" Revan responded with both anger and vindication, "_I _am the true Sith Master!"

"Yes…I cannot deny it any longer. You are the one who deserves…who deserves to be the Dark Lord…"

Revan said nothing as Malak continued. He'd been looking forward to this.

"You where the one who found the first Star Map on…Dantooine Revan…*cough, cough* I only followed in your wake…I tried to usurp your rule…tried to steal your power…but now I see…you are, Darth Revan, Dark Lord of the Sith. And I…I am nothing."

Revan smiled underneath his faceless, bronze-colored mask.

"The Apprentice has learned his final lesson" Revan replied with just a hint of sadism.

"And so it ends…*cough*…somehow, as I always knew it would…in darkness…."

And with that, Malak fell to the floor, dead at Revan's feet. He had enjoyed this greatly. Revenge was his, and even better, Malak had **admitted** it. Admitted that he was a worthless fool in the face of him. It was too sweet for words. Revan took in the moment and watched from the chamber he and Malak had dueled in as the Republic Fleet was decimated by the Sith Armada in a glorious display of fiery explosions and shredded vessels. Victory at last….

The evening sky was blood red as throngs of Sith gathered at the Rakatan temple on the planet Lehon, to address their new masters. Darth Bastila, former prodigy of the Jedi Order, now deadly Sith Apprentice, addressed the crowd:

"Malak is DEAD! All hail the return of Darth Revan! The true Lord of the Sith!"

Right on cue, Revan walked up, fully adorned in his personal robes. They where black garments that covered his entire body with a bronze breastplate over them, as well as a long hooded black cape, a red sash that went in-between the gap in his black robes, and a grim, faceless bronze mask. Revan was greeted with applause as his minions chanted:

"All hail Lord Revan, all hail Lord Revan, all hail Lord Revan!"

Bastila bowed before her master as she said: "The Sith bow before you, you have reclaimed your rightful throne. The Jedi Order is in tatters. It is only a matter of time before your Sith minions wipe them from the face of the galaxy."

Revan said nothing. He merely nodded in approval as Bastila continued: "The Republic Fleet is decimated, the Core Worlds are defenseless against us…"

Revan nodded once more, and spoke out to the crowd:

"Sith, Dark Jedi…my brothers all. Listen to me. Years ago, when the Mandalorians threatened to wipe out all life in the galaxy, who rose to the challenge, against the wishes of his holier-than-thou order to protect innocent lives and stop the slaughter?"

"LORD REVAN!" was the unanimous response.

"And afterwards, I formed our magnificent empire with the Dark Side and the Star Forge as my tools. And we set out to bring order to a galaxy that would never know it without the aid of the Dark Side. But exactly one year ago today, my wretched apprentice Malak betrayed me, and left me for dead, and this empire embraced the traitor as its new ruler. But I had not died. I returned. It took me awhile, with the Jedi Order making me their puppet, but thanks to the efforts of my lovely new apprentice Bastila…I reclaimed my title, and killed Malak and those who insisted on continuing to follow him. Now, who is it _you_ serve?"

"LORD REVAN!" was again the unanimous response, this time shouted louder than before.

"And now that I have reclaimed my title, we will take our massive fleets and armadas, and destroy the inept Republic and the Jedi Order who protects them, and replace them with a new order. An order that can ensure that the horrible atrocities of the Mandalorian Wars never happen again! Under our leadership, the galaxy will know peace!"

The end of Revan's speech was met with thunderous applause. Revan nodded and returned to the inside of the Temple, where his ship, the Ebon Hawk, awaited him. Bastila followed right behind. They stopped at the ramp. Revan admired his apprentice's form as he removed his mask. He was a fairly young man. His handsome features had been corroded slightly by the power of the Dark Side but his skin still had some color, and his eyes had only recently become yellow. He snaked his arms around Bastila's waist and pulled her closer to him, and their lips met…


	2. Chapter 2: Enter Noble Team

Chapter 2: Enter Noble Team

ONI File-SPARTAN III B-312 *Redacted*

Gender: Male

Religion: Unknown

Enlistment Date: Classified

Location: Classified

Homeworld: Classified

Date of Birth: 7/4/2528

ARMOR File:

Helmet: Recon

Chest: Collar-Breacher

Wrist Armor: Tactical/TACPAD

Knee Armor-FJ/PARA

Shoulder Armor: SECURITY (Right) and Sniper (Left)

It was Noble 6's first day on Reach.

It hadn't taken him too long to get the impression that he was not as welcome as his commander Carter would have wanted him to think. What with the fact that the drive was as silent as could be for starters. Six was apparently just expected to get out of the car and walk to the building where his new team awaited him without a word.

And then of course, there was the fact that the first thing he saw upon entering said building was a skull-faced helmet attached to a body covered in grenades sharpening a crooked knife that only paused to glare at him.

Yeah, he definitely wasn't welcome. But from what Six had gathered, Noble Team was a tightly knit bunch and they weren't taking the idea of a replacement to their previous number Six very well. But orders were orders, and Noble Team had been down a man for over a month as it stood, so the time had come to bring in a replacement. That was Noble Six. As it was, Six wasn't objecting to being put on the team, since he'd been more or less suspended from duty after the rest of his squad had been KIA. Or "went MIA" as far as the UNSC were concerned. SPARTANS never died after all…

And the UNSC definitely needed as many SPARTANS as they could get. After all, the Covenant had already killed millions, if not billions of humans by this point, and standard Marines, and even the ODSTS for that matter, just weren't enough…

And if past experiences had taught him one thing, it was that associating with the wrong people (especially when the "wrong people" where sociopathic ex-teammates) never ended well, which meant that he'd probably want to keep to himself as much as possible if Emile and the silent sniper outside where any indication of what to expect from the rest of the team. And besides, he **was **the lone wolf. Ever since he became the last man on his team…

But if Noble Team's assault specialist was going to try and give him guff, then so be it. He didn't give a rat's ass in all honesty. As he walked in, Noble 6 could partially overhear what was going on between Commander Carter and Colonel Holland. Something about a downed relay or some such. He walked in to get a closer look but a robotic arm blocked his path. Noble 6 looked up and there she was.

Now, Noble 6 had read all of his teammate's files (Mr. Grim Reaper included for that matter) but it still didn't quite prepare him for looking directly at a face of emerald green eyes, short dark hair that matched her caramel-colored skin well, and a few scars that showed she had seen battle. Noble 6 smirked underneath his helmet, as Kat turned to Carter:

"Commander" Even her voice, which Six guessed was of Iranian ancestry, was sexy. And as much as Noble 6 would have liked to…well, get to know his Lt. Commander a little better, he knew he couldn't rush that sort of thing and priorities came first anyway. Namely addressing his team leader as well as its "big guy".

"So that's our new number six?"

Noble Six stepped forward. He had to admit, Jorge-052 was an imposing figure indeed. Definitely earned his team nickname. The machine-gun turret also helped in the "imposing" part. Emile perked up. From the voice, Noble 6 guessed that he was a black man. Or just someone else with that kind of voice, but Six was leaning towards the former theory.

"Kat, you read his file?"

"Only the parts that weren't covered in black ink." Kat responded. Carter, by now, was already talking to Colonel Holland again as Noble 6 found himself unable to help but admire the squad's XO's…features (discreetly of course)

"Anyone claim responsibility, sir?" Carter asked Holland

"ONI thinks it might be the local insurrection. Five months ago, they pulled a similar job on Harmony. Hit a relay to take out our eyes and ears, then stole two freighters from dry-dock. That cannot happen here. Reach is too damn important. I want that relay back online, Noble One."

"Sir. Consider it done."

"Then I'll see you on the other side. Holland out." By now, Jorge and Emile had gotten up, and Carter had turned to face his newest addition, who was already standing at attention.

"Lieutenant"

"Commander sir" Six responded

Jorge and Emile had started to move out by now as Carter took to introducing them anyway. "I'm Carter, Noble Team's leader. That's Kat, Noble Two, Emile and Jorge, Four and Five. You're riding with me and Three, Noble Six."

The SPARTANS proceeded to move out of the base. As they did, Noble Six decided that he liked his commander. He seemed to know what he was doing, gave off an air of authority, and was clearly a survivor. Jorge also seemed to be a bit of a softy beneath all the bulky armor. And if Kat was anything at all like them then maybe Reach wouldn't be such a drag after all. He could always stomach any of Emile's crap and the Sniper's silent treatment. The only downside at the moment was the fact that Noble 6 was being led to a Falcon opposite the one Kat was going into.

"_Damn"_

"I'm not gonna lie to you, Lieutenant" Carter continued "You're stepping into some shoes the rest of the squad would rather leave unfilled..." Carter of course, was referring to Thom A-293, Noble Six's predecessor, a SPARTAN III who was supposedly a little "cowboy-like" in nature who had died a few months prior. Poor soul. By now, the SPARTANS where all on board their respective Falcons.

"…Me, I'm just happy to have Noble back up to full strength. Just one thing though: I've read your file. Even the parts the ONI censors didn't want me to see. I'm glad to have your skill set, but we're a team. That lone wolf crap stays behind. Clear?"

"Got it Sir" Noble 6 responded. No point playing the rebel now.

"Welcome to Reach." Jun remarked as the two Falcons flew off to their destination. OK, so Jun didn't seem too bad after all. But why the silent treatment then?

**Coruscant, center of the Galactic Community:**

"Admiral Onasi"

Carth Onasi, longtime Republic Soldier and pilot, newly promoted to Admiral and the only surviving member of the Ebon Hawk's crew not still loyal to Revan, stepped forward before a collection of Republic Generals, Jedi Masters, and the Supreme Chancellor.

"Admiral Onasi reporting for duty, sir. What is it you want with me?"

The Supreme Chancellor, a wizened old man who had seen too much in his lifetime, spoke up once more:

"Admiral Onasi, in the wake of Darth Malak's death, Darth Revan's return, and the annihilation of the Republic Fleet we sent to the Star Forge, we are at an extreme disadvantage to deal with the Sith Empire's wrath. And to be fair, we weren't doing so well when Malak was the Dark Lord. What will we do now that Revan, the master tactician, is at the forefront of this army of darkness once again?"

There was silence. In truth, Carth Onasi had been pondering these very questions immediately after he learned that Revan had fallen back to the Dark Side at the last minute. And to think, Carth had actually believed that he would not revert back to his old self… Well, Revan had been such a…such a good person after being given a new identity. He'd helped people, he was compassionate, he did such good for the galaxy…It was only at the very end, when offered a choice by Bastila, did he turn back to the Dark Side. Carth felt like an idiot. He should have seen this coming. After Saul Karath, he was an expert on betrayal. He thought he could afford to trust again, and now that little mistake had cost Jolee, Juhani, Mission, and a whole Republic Fleet their lives. But was it really that simple? That black-and-white? Again, it had been Bastila's offer that had turned him. So did he turn back for her? That made some sense…

Carth finally broke the silence when he said: "Chancellor, I know this: if we don't take out the Star Forge, then we won't have any chance of winning. As it is, a sizable number of Republic ships are still under our control. I'd recommend another assault on the Star Forge, but Bastila's battle meditation would ruin our chances of victory. We need to kill her."

There was silence among the group. Carth had a feeling the Jedi Masters wouldn't like this plan. But Bastila had turned to the Dark Side, and now with her battle meditation, she was the main thing that made victory for the Republic impossible. She had to be taken down.

"If I may make a suggestion, we need to send a highly trained team of Jedi Knights to locate Bastila and bring her down. Then, we have no choice but to take down the Star Forge. It's a risk, but the alternative is a war of attrition that Revan WILL WIN."

The Generals and the Chancellor murmured amongst themselves. The Jedi remained silent. Finally, the Chancellor turned to the Jedi. Vrook Lamar, a Jedi Master Carth had seen briefly before on Dantooine, spoke up:

"We do not need a team of Jedi Knights. We just need one."

Carth raised an eyebrow. Vrook continued:

"He is a man who once served in the Mandalorian Wars but did not follow Revan down the Dark Side. We would have exiled him anyway, but he fought alongside the Jedi against Revan, proving that he remained loyal to both the Order and the Republic. The mere fact that he did not succumb as Revan's other followers did is a testament to his strong will, and the mere fact that he survived the Mandalorian wars speaks well for his skill with a lightsaber. He is who we will send to defeat Bastila."

Carth wasn't sure he was too crazy about this plan. Who was this Jedi? The last thing he wanted was to be partnered with another one of the Council's "special Jedi" following what happened with Revan and Bastila.

"Who is this Jedi exactly?"

"His name is Daemon" Vrook replied "And I believe that he is just the man for this task. I've never much approved of his way of doing things, none of the Council has, but I think that he has the best chance of defeating Bastila."

"All right. When do I meet him?"

"Right now." An armored figure stepped out of the shadows to regard Carth Onasi and everyone else in the room. His armor was a combination of steel gray and light blue, complete with gauntlets and a black body glove under the armor and a faceless steel gray helmet. He wore over the armor a light gray hooded coat, as well as a belt with ammo pouches and a holstered blaster. A blaster. Carth didn't think a Jedi would use that. Or wear head-to-toe armor. But, as he continued to look at him, he could also easily make out the hilt of a double-bladed lightsaber.

"_**I**_ am your Jedi Knight."

Noble Team investigated the abandoned base with their night vision on, and weapons at the ready. The investigation into who had taken out the downed relay had turned into a series of skirmishes with the Covenant. The Covenant where on Reach. That wasn't good. The team had already encountered farmers and army troopers alike who had been victims of the alien monsters, and now, they stumbled upon another victim: a middle-aged male scientist, on the floor, dead in a pool of his own blood. Kat went up to the computer console near the body as Noble 6 proceeded to search said body.

A second later, Kat threw up her hands in frustration. "Damn. Plasma damage!"

At that moment, Noble 6 found a data module of some kind on the scientist. He spoke to Kat:  
"Found something"

Kat turned and, somewhat rudely, snatched the data module out of Six's hand.

"I'll take that Lieutenant. Not your domain."

"I have other talents besides being a killing machine doll."

"_Don't_ call me "doll"!" Kat snapped.

Jorge's voice rang out, interrupting the little exchange. "I've got a live one over here! Come on, out you come!"

Jorge dragged out a young woman with black hair, who was screaming her head off in some language Six was unfamiliar with as she kept hitting Jorge to no avail. Six shook his head. The amount of disrespect the SPARTANS got among civilians was really ridiculous sometimes. They risked their lives for the whole human race and this was how they were treated?

"It's all right, we're not going to hurt you." Jorge said, but the woman kept struggling. Carter moved towards him.

"Jorge..."

"I've got her." Jorge put his turret down and held her firmly in both arms, staring at her hard underneath his helmet.

"Keep still, and I'll release you."

The woman said something else, much more calmly this time, but Six noticed something else instead: Elite Zealots.

Zealots where the most dangerous, highly trained Elites of all, and by that extension, the most dangerous Covenant of all. The leader, clad in purple armor with an ornate headdress adorned with two horns, stepped up, Energy Sword drawn, and two more Elite Zealots in Maroon armor, came up as well. Jorge moved out of the way while simultaneously shielding the woman as the Zealot leader brought its energy sword down.

"We've been engaged!" Carter shouted and the room erupted into chaos and gunfire.

The Zealot leader went after Kat. Seeing this, Noble 6 leaped forward, using his natural sprinting ability as a SPARTAN, to push Kat out of the way. The two collapsed on top of each-other as Carter provided covering fire. Kat shoved Noble 6 off of her and started emptying her pistol at the Zealots. Noble 6 got up and one of the Zealots knocked him back to the ground as it sprinted to the door.

"Bad guy coming out!" Carter shouted.

As Noble 6 was about to get up, yet another Zealot pinned him, drew it's Energy Sword, and roared at the red-armored SPARTAN, mandibles extended, as it prepared for the kill. Noble 6 punched the Zealot, and Carter rushed forward to kick it off of Noble Six. Kat moved in and started shooting at it, and it backpedaled. Carter kicked an assault rifle to Six as the two Zealots headed for another door, one holding a nearby wounded marine as a shield. The civilian girl began to scream as the two Zealots went through the door and killed their hostage.

"That tango blew past me," Emile said "Permission to pursue?"

"Negative Four, stay on the entrance. Two, handle her. Five and Six, clear the hole!"

At this, Jorge and Noble 6 strode forward through the door, night-vision still on, and immediately began opening fire on the scores of Grunts within. Noble 6 rushed ahead, swapping out his assault rifle for a DMR, and took to shooting the Grunts in the head as they came. One of the Zealots rushed forward, Energy Sword drawn. Noble 6, seeing the Zealot coming, backpedaled furiously, and chucked a well-aimed plasma grenade at the Zealot. The blast fried its shields and a headshot from the DMR killed it. Jorge followed right behind, machine gun turret cutting down what Grunts where left and chipping away at the second Zealot's energy shields. Noble 6 picked up the dead Zealot's energy sword and ran at the second one. The Zealot saw Six coming just in time to parry the blow with his own energy sword, but Six took out the kukri mounted on his shoulder pauldron (just like Emile's) and jammed it into the creature's neck. The Zealot staggered, and Noble 6 finished it by jamming the Energy Sword in its gut.

"Noble Five reporting in. Targets neutralized." Jorge said, walking up behind Six.

Carter radioed a response. "Kat needs you to reset a junction. Do it and come back over here."

Noble 6 reset the junction and he and Jorge walked back to where the others where. As they did, Jorge remarked:

"That was some impressive work today Six. I think you'll do this team good."

"Thanks. Good to see at least one person thinks so."

"Aw, give it time," Jorge said reassuringly, patting Noble Six on the back. "…They're just getting used to you. You keep doing what you did today, you'll get the commander's approval in no time. Jun's too. Emile…well, who cares right?" Jorge chuckled as the two kept walking. Finally, they made it back. Noble 6 could overhear Kat say something about Commander Carter being in "her light" as they walked in. Carter turned to Jorge.

"Find out what she knows."

Jorge walked forward and tapped the civilian girl on the shoulder but she shoved his hand away. Emile chuckled. Noble 6 wondered what it was Emile found funny.

"What's your name? Do you live around here?"

Getting no response, Jorge took his helmet off and began talking to her in the same language the girl used. Finally, he said in English: "…Your accent sounds familiar. Sopron?"

"Tengeri." The girl replied in English. Jorge turned to look at the dead scientist.

"Friend of yours?"

"Father."

"I'm sorry."

"Why would you be?" she asked almost venomously. Emile turned to Noble 6 who was watching.

"Big man forgets what he is sometimes."

Jorge picked Emile up by the scruff of his collar like he was just heavy ordnance (courtesy of the strength SPARTAN-IIs possessed) and stared directly into his skull-faced helmet. "She just lost her father." He said coldly. Jorge then set Emile down, and turned to Carter. "She needs a full psychiatric workup."

There was a brief moment of silence before Carter replied to Jorge:

"Get her on her feet... the body stays here."

"Thank you, sir." Jorge walked by Emile, stopping only to glare at him, and proceeded to help the girl to her feet. Noble 6 then heard Kat's voice ring out again:

"Signal. It's patchy, but it's there."

"I'll take it." Carter said, as he walked forward.

"Best not touch anything." Kat said. "You wouldn't want to ground this place."

Noble 6 heard Colonel Holland's voice crackle to life as he, Kat, and Emile, left with Jorge and the girl.

"... I'm barely getting you. What's your situation, over?"

"Colonel, this is Noble One. There are no rebels. The Covenant are on Reach. Acknowledge?"

"Come again, Noble One? Did you say _Covenant_?"

"Affirmative. It's the Winter Contingency"

"_May God help us all._" Was the last thing Noble 6 heard before he and Kat exited the building completely. Jorge helped the girl onto the nearby Pelican, before walking off to pilot the vehicle. The girl stared at the other SPARTANS with something resembling revulsion and turned to look back at Jorge, now in the pilot's seat, with a sad, desperate look on her face. Noble 6, Kat, and Emile got on the Pelican, and it took off.

"What about the Commander?" Noble 6 asked

"Jun will pick him up after he's done giving the Colonel the report" Jorge replied. Six nodded. Made sense. He found himself looking at Kat again, as she'd taken off her helmet now. Truth be told, he thought she was very pretty, not even the scars detracted from that. If anything, they actually improved her visage. What she was doing now, he couldn't quite tell, but she'd stood up and seemed to be fiddling with the data module she'd taken from him. That also reminded Six that the way she snatched it from him showed that she had no real feelings for him whatsoever. She probably didn't even care for him. Carter had said Six would be stepping into shoes that the squad wouldn't want to have filled, and Noble Six already knew that coming in, but…

He shook his head and sighed. He always was a sucker for a pretty face. Hearing him sigh, Kat finally looked up at him.

"Something wrong?"

"What? Ah, no. Just…"

"Never mind." And with that, Kat went back to her data-module.

The rest of the flight was a silent one.


	3. Chapter 3: City in Flames

Chapter 3: City in Flames

So much had happened in the last few weeks.

Following the initial series of skirmishes with the Covenant, the genocidal aliens had launched a full-scale invasion on the planet. Noble Team and company had attempted a valiant defense, but…it was no use. Cities lied in ruins, thousands where dead, and Noble Team had lost its SPARTAN-II in what had proven to be a pointless sacrifice. As the remaining five members of the team found themselves cooped up in an ONI building, Noble 6 found that Jun's words described the current situation perfectly:

"…this place used to be the crown jewel…not anymore." He turned to Noble 6. "…Hey, you made it."

Emile, who was, as usual, admiring his kukri knife, remarked "It's a regular family reunion."

Six turned to him and took out Jorge's dogtags, which the SPARTAN-II had given Noble 6 right before detonating the slipspace bomb on the Corvette he and Six had boarded. Six still felt sorry….Jorge and him had developed such a partnership…and now it was all gone.

"Keep 'em. He gave them to you." Emile said, then, pointing at himself with his Kukri, he added: "I'll honor him my own way."

"Jorge always said he would never leave Reach." Jun remarked with just a hint of sadness. Emile chuckled at that.

"The big man _was_ sentimental..."

"You're pretty callous aren't you?" Noble 6 asked.

"I ain't callous Six. Not completely anyway. We all have our coping mechanisms…" He pointed at his dagger. "…This is mine. Like I said, I'll honor him my own way."

Noble 6 thought about that. So Emile did care about Jorge? That was a little surprising to hear, and somewhat hard to believe. But, what he said was true…they all had their ways of coping. Apparently, masking whatever feelings he felt at the loss of his teammates with jokes was his.

"He gave his life thinking he just saved the planet," Carter added. "We should all be so lucky." Jun asked him something about other SPARTAN-teams being assigned to civilian evacuation operations. Noble Six wasn't really listening, too busy staring at the devastated cityscape. He was shaken out of his thoughts when he heard Kat reply irritably to something Carter said.

"I hear what I hear. Point is, why put Spartans on defensive deployments?"

"I need that link to SATCOM, Kat."

"Chasing it, but this console has more shrapnel than transceivers…You didn't answer my question."

"You want to know if we're losing?"

"I _know_ we're losing." Kat's voice sounded more pained then ever. "I want to know if we've _lost_."

Carter didn't respond. He just looked outside at the scene before him. The city was in ruins, buildings where collapsing every second it seemed. It was a good thing all civilians had been evacuated a long time ago. But the same couldn't be said for others…beeping broke the silence.

"Colonel Holland. Hailing us! What's he doing on an open channel?"

Carter turned to Kat. "Let's hear it."

Colonel Holland's voice crackled to life on the COM for all of the SPARTANS to hear: "-near the southwest quadrant of the city, over? Sierra Two-Five-Nine, if you are receiving, I am authorizing override of radio security protocols to link with this channel."

"How long for a secure link?" Carter asked Kat.

"I can't guarantee secure anymore." Was her simple reply.

"Could the Covenant trace it to us?"

"_I_ could."

Colonel Holland's voice came on again. "Noble Leader, this is a Priority One hail. If you are receiving, acknowledge immediately."

Kat finally handed Carter the communicator. "Keep it brief."

Carter grabbed the communicator and placed it to his ear. "Carter here...yes, sir." Carter walked back towards the window. Meanwhile, Jun saw something in his binoculars he didn't like, at least it looked that way to Six.

"We've got movement. Multiple Covenant vehicles vacating the area... and they're in a hurry."

"How often do you see Covenant retreat for no reason?" Emile asked.

"You don't" Noble 6 replied gravely. Kat spoke up suddenly:

"Radiation flare! Big! Forty million roentgens!"

"Just lost Holland. What's going on?"

"Atomic excitement scrambled the signal. Ninety million now!"

"Source?"

"Airborne. Close!"

"How close?"

No sooner had Carter asked his question then a massive shockwave ripped through the building, shattering the windows, and knocking all the members of Noble Team on the ground.

"_That close!_"

Emile and Jun tried to scramble to their feet as quickly as possible and bolted for the elevators as Carter followed suit. Kat picked her helmet up and put it on as Noble 6 helped her to her feet and the two ran into the elevator opposite the one the others had gone into. Kat closed the door and set the elevator down. She turned to Six:

"First glassing?"

Six nodded.

"Me too. Don't worry, I'm on it. Our best option is a fallout bunker in Sublevel 2. Ninety-six meters northeast. We get orders from Holland, sir?"

Carter's voice came over on the COM. "We're being redeployed to Sword Base."

"Sword?" Jun remarked incredulously, "The Covenant own it now!"

"Which is why they want us for a torch and burn operation. Keep Dr. Halsey's excavation data from falling into enemy hands."

Carter's elevator was the first down. He and the Warrant Officers sprinted out. Meanwhile, Kat turned to Noble 6 and simply said: "If it hasn't already."

The two rushed out of the elevator as it landed, right behind the others, making their way to the bunker through the ruins of the darkened city.

"Maybe" Carter said, apparently having overheard what Kat had said over the COM, "but according to Holland, the Covenant are still hunting for something."

Carter, Jun, and Emile reached the bunker first, with Kat and Noble 6 right behind. Ever-cautious, Noble 6 looked around and saw a Phantom on approach. An Elite was taking aim with a needle rifle…

"Where does he get off calling a demolition op Priority One-"

Kat's sentence was cut short when Noble 6 pushed her to the ground just as a Needle Rifle round flew through the air. The shot missed both SPARTANS. The Elite fired off another shot, this one hit Kat in the neck area. Kat tore the crystalline projectile out of her neck and started emptying her pistol at the Phantom to no effect as Carter, Jun, and Emile provided assistance with Assault rifle fire. Finally, Noble 6 pulled the injured Kat into the bunker.

"Come on! Come on! Get in!" Carter shouted.

"Let's go, come on!" Jun added.

As Noble 6 came in with Kat, now bleeding freely from the neck area, the bunker doors closed. Noble 6 set Kat down.

"She's been shot in the neck. We need to get the wound bandaged up or she'll bleed out."

"Do you have a med kit?"

Noble 6 took out the med-kit attached to one of his armor legs. "Sure do. Hang on Kat, you'll make it." Noble 6 took off Kat's helmet, revealing her anguished face. He then began applying the pain killers and wound closers. Kat, though still bleeding from the throat, mumbled

"Thank you"

"Don't mention it. OK, patching up the wound now…"

"Good job Lieutenant" Carter remarked, patting Noble 6 on the back.

The five SPARTANS remained cooped up in the darkened bunker for what felt like hours afterwards. The time ticked by slowly. And it was dead silent, save for the faint hissing sound that was unmistakably Covenant glassing the nearby areas. But besides that, no other sound was heard. Not even the sound of Emile sharpening his knife, was present. Through it all, Noble 6 didn't take his eyes off of Kat, wound now bandaged. He was thinking. If he hadn't seen that Phantom coming, Kat would have been shot in the head just like that. A truly sad way for a SPARTAN to go.

Finally, another sound could be heard: humming. Noble 6 recognized the sound anywhere. Pelicans. Pelicans had finally come. Carter and Jun where first to move out, with Emile right behind, stopping only to kick a nearby Skirmisher corpse out of the way. Noble 6 got ready to pick Kat up and carry her but she shoved him away.

"I'm not crippled lieutenant. I can still walk."

"Suit yourself doll"

"I thought I told you not to call me doll"

"I saved your life, I get to call you whatever I want"

The five SPARTANS got on board the Pelicans, and they took off, leaving the burning ruins of New Alexandria behind.

-X-

Carth Onasi was at the helm of his new Republic Vessel, christened the _Glorious Savior_. With this enigmatic new Jedi Knight at his side, Carth Onasi told the vessel to set out, plotting a course for the outer rim, where Sith forces where rumored to be making some sort of pact with the Mandalorian raiders in the sector. There was a possibility that Bastila would be there, so it was a good place to start.

"All right men. Prepare the hyperdrive. I want us in the Outer Rim as soon as possible. And remember: this mission is vital to the Republic's success against the Sith. So the best of luck to us all."

And with that, the _Glorious Savior _charged up it's hyperdrive, the black void of space became a great bluish white tunnel, and everything, it seemed, slowed down for a second, right before speeding up dramatically. Carth, for his part, had experienced this a thousand times, but it never ceased to impress.

And then, the _Glorious Savior_ rocketed through space, now off on it's mission…or was it?


	4. Chapter 4: Lost in Space

Chapter 4: Lost in Space

The _Glorious Savior_ at last came out of lightspeed. The trip through lightspeed had taken just a tad longer than expected, and now the crew was faced with an unfamiliar area of space. They all staggered to their feet, some of the more green crew members slightly nauseous from the trip. Carth looked out into the vast emptiness presented before him. There was no planet in sight.

"We're not in the Outer Rim…." Carth muttered. He turned to his navigator. "You! Can you tell us where we are?"

The Navigator checked his computer screen for a brief moment. He frowned, as though something where out of place, checked again, and then finally, turned back to Carth and said: "Sir, the Nav Computer isn't registering with the area. I think…I think we may be in uncharted space."

"Uncharted Space? How did that happen? In fact, how is that even possible?"

"I don't know sir. I think their might have been a slight malfunction with the hyperdrive when we made the jump to lightspeed. It's sent us to some unmapped section of space. Or at least, that's my best guess. I'm no hyperdrive expert"

"Wait…." Carth said. "How did a malfunction happen? Hyperdrive's aren't poorly made...get an engineer team down there now!"

"That will not be necessary."

Carth turned. It was the Jedi Knight Daemon. He stepped forward and spoke again, in a tone that was both calm and serious:

"I sense deceit here. There is a traitor on board. I suggest we locate him or her and interrogate them about the sabotaged hyperdrive."

"Good idea" Carth responded. He turned to his lieutenant, who immediately stood at attention. "Lieutenant! Get a security team and round up the crew! If we're going to interrogate everyone on board, it's going to take a while, so why don't we get started no—wait, where is the navigator?"

As the admiral asked his question, the traitorous navigator was sprinting through the halls of the ship, knocking over everything and anything in his path: droids, objects of machinery, even fellow crewmembers were all shoved to the ground. The navigator knew that if the security team, or worse, if the Jedi caught him, he'd be doomed. So he kept running, not even stopping to catch his breath, which he was becoming desperately short on (likely due to his "big bones".) He looked over his shoulder. Security Officers where already running after him.

"There he is!" The security team leader shouted. "Set for stun!"

The navigator swerved and sprinted down the halls to the escape pod area. As the security team opened fire, the navigator leaped into one of the escape pods and detached it. As it shot out, he thought on his current situation. He had sabotaged the hyperdrive in an act of betrayal in the hopes that the Sith would spare him when they inevitably triumphed. But now that he was adrift in uncharted space, his situation looked just as bad. He looked out of the observation window and saw a massive planet. It had land, but was surrounded by water. It looked like a world that could support life, but areas of the planet where lit up in what could only be devastating fires. As the navigator was looking, he did not notice a large vessel descending on his area. On board, the ship's helmsman reported to the shipmaster, sitting on his personal gravitational throne on the bridge:

"Commander, there is a small vessel nearby. I believe it contains a human, if the scanners are correct. What are your orders?"

The Supreme Commander turned to the helmsman and growled: "No human must survive to continue their war with the covenant. Destroy it immediately"

"Yes sir." The Helmsman turned to the gunners manning the ship's cannons "Fire on that vessel!" He shouted.

The gunners nodded and opened fire. The escape pod was destroyed just like that and the treacherous navigator along with it. Meanwhile, back on the _Glorious Savior_, the bridge was bustling with activity. They'd just lost contact with their launched escape pod, and no one seemed to really have any idea on what was going on, or determine where the _Glorious Savior_ was.

"Well?" Carth asked. "What happened?"

"I should think it's obvious."

Carth turned. It was the Jedi again. "The navigator's escape pod has been destroyed. And I'm sensing another vessel is on its way here. I believe it may be the Sith. I recommend we plot a course for that nearby planet and figure out our next move there."

"Good idea. Helmsman, set a course for that nearby planet. And step on it."

The _Glorious Savior_ made its way to the planet, but as they drew closer, they saw a fleet of ships they did not recognize converging on it. These massive ships where unleashing fleets of smaller vessels that looked like something resembling troop transports. They were all headed to around the same area of the planet, which was brightly lit, indicating a lot of activity on the planet's surface. The Jedi Daemon looked at the fleet grimly. He had a feeling they where no friends of that planet. And he could sense the cries of anguish down below. As a veteran of the Mandalorian Wars, he had a good idea of what was likely going on.

Carth turned to him, still composed, with no fear visible on his face. Only in his words. "Listen, our ship is a standard Republic capital ship. That is an entire fleet that could posses' weapons we have never even seen before. To put it plainly, any sort of engagement would amount to suicide."

"I agree. But we are not going to abandon this planet. Not when it looks to be under attack from a very large fleet. Admiral, direct our ship to the other side of the planet, and do so as discreetly as possible. As you said, an engagement at this time would be…unwise."

"All right. But just to clarify: you don't give orders on this ship. I do."

Daemon turned to him, his tone becoming a tad sharper: "Keep in mind Admiral Onasi. I am your ace-in-the-hole here. I am also a Jedi Knight, so don't presume I carry no authority. I've seen just as many horrible things in my day as you have, so don't think that elevates your position either. But as it stands, I'm not here to pick a fight with you. I'm here to help you"

Carth nodded and then stared out at the planet that the _Glorious Savior _was about to land on…


	5. Chapter 5: World's Collide

Chapter 5: Worlds Collide

Noble 6 had just walked into the hastily assembled med-bay area to check on Kat, who was sitting in a rusted metal chair, with her throat bandaged up to stop the bleeding from the cut left behind from the needle round. Ever since her injury in New Alexandria, Kat had been needing to recuperate and Six had volunteered to look after her. Now, the team was cooped up in Doctor Halsey's underground lab and had been for a while since. Kat had been recuperating quickly now. She was on her feet again, but still seemed weary. Experiencing a planet's death can do that to someone.

"Hey Kat" Noble 6 said

"Hello Lieutenant" Kat responded. Her voice had its usual irritated tone. Or at least it had become irritated lately.

"Hey, come on," Noble 6 said reassuringly, "Just call me 6. Everyone else dose, even Carter, and he's as stiff as a board."

Kat didn't say anything. She just looked down. Noble 6 moved closer to her.

"What are you doing here?" Kat demanded.

She had always been like this. Always been a little bossy. Even now, after Noble 6 had saved her life. But he didn't seem to care. He couldn't deny it. He _cared_ about her, and not just as a teammate, or as just another female teammate to hit on….She was different. Maybe it had something to do with saving her life, or experience a planet dying alongside her, but she was different…

"Just…wanted to check on how you were doing…"

"I'm doing fine." Kat replied bluntly. "But by all rights I should be dead; that Needle round should have done it." She shrugged. "Guess I just got lucky."

"Hey come on, you know we SPARTANS never die. We're just "missing in action."" Noble 6 teased, saying that last bit trying to imitate Carter as best he could, as Carter seemed to be fond of reminding his team that they would technically "never die", something Noble 6 for one knew was a lie.

Kat tried to hide it, but she couldn't help but smile a little bit at Noble 6's teasing. But just as quickly as it came, her smile disappeared. Noble 6 moved a little closer. He was now right beside her.

Kat sighed. "First the arm, now this. I swear, it's going to happen eventually. I'm not going to be so lucky next time. Can't you see lieutenant? We're all going to go "missing in action" at some point or another…"

Noble 6 cut her off. "Kat…."

"Yes?" 

Noble 6 took his Recon helmet off and set it on the nearby table, and Kat got a good look at his face: Noble Six was in his mid twenties, had blonde-colored hair, and a horizontal knife scar above his right eyebrow, along with another scar from an energy sword over the right eye, making a sort of "seven" shaped scar. Now, Noble Six had never let _anyone_ see his face before, but again, Kat was different, and what he was about to do, he could not do with a helmet on…

"Lieutenant, why have you—"

"Hey, I told you…"

Noble 6 moved forward and placed a light kiss on Kat's lips. "Call me 6."

Kat stared at him for a brief moment, not saying a word. Finally, Noble 6 turned, picked his helmet up and put it back on, and then walked out the door. As he exited, he was met by Carter and Emile, the latter currently engaged in his favorite past-time: admiring his kukri dagger.

"How is she?" Carter asked.

"She's doing pretty good" Noble 6 responded. "I think she'll probably be ready to fight again in a few minutes."

"Well I hate to be grim here, but we may not HAVE much longer. I've just been informed by the doc that some ship has found its way in here and is en route to this area."

"Oh no, another Covenant ship?"

"If it is" Emile said, "then it sure as hell isn't one I've ever seen before. I don't think anyone has."

"No…" Carter added. "I don't think it's a covenant vessel. It has a structure I have never seen before in a ship. Human or Covenant. That means, as surreal as it sounds, that it might just be someone new."

"Yeah " Emile added sarcastically "another guest at the doomsday bash"

"Well whatever it is," Carter added, "I say we check it out. Jun's already out there, but I think the rest of us should be too. So come on Noble Team, let's move out."

Emile moved off as soon as the order was given, and Carter followed. Noble 6 took one more look at the door to the room Kat was in, and then followed Carter and Emile. The three where soon outside where Jun was already on the watch, Sniper Rifle drawn, aimed, and ready. For all the good it would do against a Capital-Ship sized vessel. The four SPARTANS stood there, and then, the vessel landed. The doors opened, and out came several soldiers with guns and armor that none of the SPARTANS had ever seen before. Following these men and women where mechanical beings of some sort, and they too were armed, implying that these people used robotic soldiers in addition to human ones.

The SPARTANS were left completely dumbfounded. Why hadn't these people ever been mentioned before? Why hadn't anyone ever seen them? Were they insurrectionists or some other non-UNSC movement? That seemed unlikely, since this ship looked like it came from some group that had wealth. They would have to be rich to afford all those robotic soldiers. Even the UNSC didn't have those. The SPARTANS were tempted to raise their guns but had a feeling that it wouldn't be wise. Finally, a well-dressed man, probably the ship's captain or admiral, came out, right behind a man in armor and a light gray coat. Some of the soldiers following them out looked like aliens. One had green skin, and tentacles wrapped around its head. Another also had green skin, but looked somewhat bug-like, with a little snout and big, dark purple eyes. This made the SPARTANS really uneasy. The aliens they were familiar with were bad enough, now here were ones they had never seen before. Emile was about to raise and fire his shotgun before Carter put his hand on his shoulder as a means of discouragement.

"Identify yourselves please" Carter stated

The well-dressed man spoke. The SPARTANS were a little impressed with how much authority he had in his voice:

"I am Carth Onasi, Republic Admiral. With me are Daemon, Jedi Knight, and the crew of the Republic vessel the _Glorious Savior_. We stumbled upon this world coming out of lightspeed. As far as we could tell, your world is under siege from a fleet of some kind. Are you defenders of this planet? I know soldiers when I see them, and you definitely fit the bill."

For a moment the SPARTANS just stood there, baffled. Emile turned to Jun and whispered: "what the hell is he talking about?" Jun just shrugged. Carter was the first to speak up:

"Yeah, we're soldiers here admiral. I am SPARTAN A-259, Commander and leader of this squad you see here. This is SPARTAN A-266, our sniper, SPARTAN B-312, and SPARTAN A-239, our own personal Grim Reaper. There is also SPARTAN B-320, my second-in-command, but she is currently recovering from an injury she sustained in a previous fight. With all due respect, I don't really care who you are or where you come from, if you are here to help us for whatever reason, it would be much appreciated. But I'm going to warn you that if you're working with those Covenant bastards, you'll have to kill every last one of us before you want to go any further."

Daemon spoke up. "Relax, we are here to help you, not to start a fight with you. I sense that you have difficulty trusting us due to the presence of non-humans in our army, as well as not believing what Admiral Onasi has told you about us…Carter."

"How the hell did you know my name?"

"The power of the force my friend."

"What the hell is the force?" Emile asked.

"I see…you men have never heard of the force and are unfamiliar with the Jedi or the Republic. Well, given how this world isn't in our section of space, I can understand that. To answer your question, the Force is a mystical energy that some within the galaxy can harness and control. I am one such person, and there are thousands like me. Now to briefly summarize, we come from, another galaxy and are part of a Republic that used to run our galaxy in a democratic manner. I and other force-users, the Jedi Knights, aided them in that respect. But the Sith, an army that may sound similar to this "Covenant" assaulting your world, has taken steps to overthrow the Republic, and kill the Jedi. We have already lost a great many, and now the Sith armada is stronger than ever. We were attempting to locate and kill a Sith Lord critical to their Empire's success, but when we made the jump to Lightspeed, a means of long-distance travel our ships employ, we well…ended up here, in orbit above your planet just when it looked like it could use our help"

After Daemon was done talking, there was again silence. Truth be told, none of the SPARTANS really knew what to think of all of this. A lot of it seemed just a little out there, even by their standards. But was it really? After all, just days ago Jorge had detonated a slip-space bomb and could now be anywhere in the galaxy. Maybe somewhere else entirely. Who's to say these people's story was crazy then? They did, as Daemon said, come from a different galaxy. One that apparently had its own humans and alien species, and its own wars to go with it. Finally, Jun, broke the silence:

"Uh…so…you're here to help us, right?"

"If we can, yes" Daemon said. He sounded sincere, and Jun almost felt at ease. Almost. But then he thought of something else. "You mentioned a group called the Sith. Do you think they might have followed you guys here?"

Carth's expression turned very grim upon hearing the question. For a moment or two, no one said a word, as Carth thought of what response to give. Finally, he gave his half-hearted reply:

"Yes, I believe that's possible."

"Indeed," Daemon added "I sensed a Sith vessel was on its way here. They may come into contact with the Covenant fleet, and if that happens…"

"We're screwed" Jun remarked.

"I am not familiar with that expression, but yes, it would be very bad if the Sith and the Covenant were to encounter one another, and even more so if they were to join forces."

"And if the Sith where to join forces with the Covenant, what exactly would are chances be?"

Daemon turned to Carter, who had asked the question: "Well, from what you've told me about the Covenant, and what I've seen with my own two eyes, I would say that they and the Sith joining forces could be disastrous for all of us."

Now the SPARTANS were getting uneasy. Jun was once again the first to break the silence, this time in a more nervous tone then what he was used to: "But uh…that's completely hypothetical right? I mean, there's no guarantee that the Sith will show up right?"

Daemon did not respond. No one did.

"Right?"  
-X-

Meanwhile, in orbit above Reach, the Covenant capital ship _Truth and Reconciliation_ was bustling with activity as the scores of Grunts, Jackals, Skirmishers, and Elites on board where arming themselves and preparing for the invasion. Elite Major Reggad 'Nogardee was striding up and down the halls, observing as his brothers and the numerous grunts and jackals under their command took up their respective arms. Reggad himself was deep in thought. He had only recently been made a Major, following his taking out a small squad of humans single-handedly (Elites where promoted less for tactical accomplishments and more for how many casualties they inflicted) and he was still pondering his current position and situation, both of which were far more significant then what he was used to. He checked his Plasma Rifles. Both at 100% battery power of course, but Reggad liked to make sure. He wouldn't be much of an Elite if he got caught using low-ammo weapons in an intense shootout.

Meanwhile, on the bridge, the Elite Shipmaster; Supreme Commander Thel 'Vadamee was ordering the various bridge officers into positions to prepare for the planetary invasion when his helmsman spoke up:

"Commander, there is an unknown vessel approaching the fleet. Do you want us to destroy it?"

The Commander thought for a moment, but before he could even give the order, the ship was upon them, and it was like no ship they had ever seen. The massive silver, pincer-shaped behemoth was clearly not a covenant vessel, but also did not resemble any human vessel they had previously encountered. Perhaps it was a new weapon the humans were sending to protect their precious colony? Perhaps…

But again, before the Commander or anyone else could do anything, the ship received a message. The ship's apparent captain was indeed a human, but he was unlike any human the covenant had ever seen. He wore a black hood over his head and a black mask over his mouth. The human spoke with a venomous, but not overly-hostile hostile tone, as if he was just a naturally angry man:

"Greetings aliens, I am Drakot, of the Sith Empire. Given the distances between our empires, you have probably never heard of us. I understand. I can assure you that I am not affiliated with the humans your races have been at war with. In fact, I believe that the humans you are fighting may in fact be harboring enemies of the Sith. If that is the case, then I believe that we may be able to help each-other out. Please allow us to come on board so we can negotiate."

And with this, the hologram disappeared. The moment it did, the bridge erupted into debate and questions before the Commander silenced the whole lot of them. The helmsman spoke up again:

"What do you want us to do Commander?"

The Supreme Commander sat in silence, pondering. He was unsure of whether or not to take this human "Drakot" up on his offer of negotiation. According to their Prophets, all humans needed to be killed, lest they continue to imperil the Great Journey. But this human had said he was not aligned with the humans the Covenant had been at war with for over twenty years now. And indeed, he did seem different…less of a normal human, more…dare he say it, Sanghelli. Finally, he made his decision:

"Contact the human ship. Tell them that we are open to discussions."

The Elites on board erupted into argument and objection the second the order had been given. One of the Elites even accused the Commander of heretic behavior.

"Silence!" The commander bellowed. "Do as I say! Or you will all be stripped of your ranks!"

The Elites did as they were told, and contacted the Sith warship, and gave them their permission to dock and begin negotiations. Almost immediately after sending their message, the Sith ship sent in a small transport which landed in the Covenant vessel's docking bay. Out stepped Drakot, flanked by two Dark Jedi Masters with three Sith Apprentices behind them. The six Dark Siders made their way to the ship's bridge, and as they did, they could feel the fear the covenant aliens felt at their presence, and their bitter hatred of their race. Little did they know that said fear and anger only increased the Sith's power. Finally, they reached the bridge, and when they did, they felt the hostility directed at them increased about tenfold. Despite this, the Sith and Dark Jedi were unconcerned. If the Elites chose to attack, they would quickly learn the error of their ways. The Supreme Commander turned to them:

"Speak Human. And understand that your mere presence here enrages many of my brothers. So speak now, and do not waste our time."

Drakot spoke: "I am here to represent the Sith Empire. While we are indeed humans, make no mistake: we are, in some ways, much like you: noble warriors with no patience for inferiors and those who would disgrace us. And we share common enemies. A ship we have been pursuing has landed on that planet you where about to invade. So I propose a temporary alliance: we will invade that planet together, slaughter all of our enemies in one fell swoop, and then go our separate ways. I can assure you that we will never bother your Covenant again after this. What do you say?"

The Supreme Commander sat silent for a brief moment. The Human Sith made a good proposal. He knew what he was about to do could easily be condemned as heresy. But…

"If what you say is true, then I may consider an alliance. A VERY temporary alliance. But first I would like to see a display of your army's power."

Drakot nodded. He turned to two of his three Sith Apprentices:

"You heard him, show them the true power of the Dark Side."

The two Sith nodded. They drew their lightsabers and engaged each-other in vicious saber combat. As their red blades clashed against one another in a series of slashes and thrusts, the Supreme Commander couldn't help but be impressed. They possessed skills unlike any other human he had ever seen. Even those accursed demons. The ones the humans called "SPARTANS"

As the spar continued, the Sith Apprentices began employing force powers against each-other. One locked the other in a force grip, tossing him around like a rag-doll. The other retaliated with a blast of force lightning that the first Sith blocked with his lightsaber. The second Sith Apprentice resorted to a force push that was able to knock the first one back a ways. The Sith got up and put his lightsaber in a guard stance. The second Apprentice relentlessly charged the first one, only for his lightsaber to be met with a block from his opponent's blade followed by a vicious counterattack to the side of the leg that incapacitated the Sith Apprentice. He attempted another strike but again, the first Sith blocked it and quickly cut his foe down. The Elites watching where a little taken back both by the strange and deadly powers these warriors possessed, and also how they were willing to kill each-other in a simple sparring demonstration.

Drakot spoke: "As you can very plainly see, we show no mercy to those of us who fail. Imagine our treatment to our hated enemies."

"You make a solid point." The Commander responded. "Very well. We will accept your offer…for now"

And with that, the pact of darkness was made.


	6. Chapter 6: The Fall of Reach

Chapter 6: The Fall of Reach

Doctor Halsey had called the remaining SPARTANS of Noble Team (including Kat now back on her feet) as well as Daemon and Carth Onasi into her lab. She had an important mission for them, and time was of the essence. Inside the lab, they could all see the good doctor busy at work, and that hovering outside the lab was a large spherical structure. Emile asked the question that was on all of their minds:

"What is this stuff?"

"Knowledge." Dr. Halsey said matter-of-factly, "A birthright from an ancient civilization. This AI is its custodian, and she has chosen you as her carriers.

"Chosen? By an AI?" Emile found that just a bit ridiculous.

"By _this_ AI, yes. Her measure of you carries as much weight as my own..."

Dr. Halsey moved away from view, revealing an AI resembling an attractive young woman with short hair, glowing pink, and busily analyzing data of some kind while sitting in a meditative stance.

"...Perhaps more. You are to take her to the UNSC ship-breaking yards in Aszod. There, you will find a Halycon-class cruiser waiting to get her off planet."

"I understand." Carter said.

Halsey raised an eyebrow."Do you? Mankind is outmatched. The appearance of new players in the game does nothing to change that. When Reach falls - and it _will_ fall - our annihilation is all but certain. Unless...we can glean from this artifact a defense against the Covenant. A game-changer. On the level of the conical bullet in the nineteenth century, or faster-than-light travel in the twenty-third."

"And what if we can't?"

"An apt question if there were somewhere else to place our hope. There is not."

Carth Onasi felt like saying that the Republic _could_ help turn the tide. Help stop these Covenant that had already killed billions of humans in this galaxy. But he wasn't so sure that was true. They had their own problems to worry about as it was. And none of them still had any real idea of what was going on. Just that they had to help.

Dr. Halsey looked at Cortana one last time before shutting off her projection. Jun took to examining the labs as Dr. Halsey pulled out a data storage unit that she then handed to Noble 6, catching the red-armored SPARTAN off-guard.

"Take it, Lieutenant... She has made her choice."

Unsure of what to do, Six turned to Carter and Kat. Both nodded their approval. Now assured slightly, Noble 6 took it. Halsey now addressed all within the lab:

"I don't think I need to tell any of you that this is of vital importance. Just know that if you cannot get this package off of Reach and onto the cruiser that will meet you at the shipyard, then the Covenant have already won. Is that clear SPARTANS?"

All of the SPARTANS saluted at the same time and responded in a chorus of "yes ma'am" and proceeded to put their helmets on. It was at that moment that a Republic soldier entered as well. Though republic soldiers were trained to not show fear if at all possible, it was written all over this one's face.

"What's wrong soldier?" Carth asked.

The soldier attempted to center himself and spoke, as calmly as he could (which wasn't saying much) "Admiral, we've seen their arrival. The Sith have come to Reach, and their ship is among those of the Covenant Fleet. Our scouts saw it with their own eyes."

So then the worst-case scenario had occurred: The Sith and the Covenant had joined forces. For what seemed like hours, there was only silence after the soldier was done speaking. It seemed like everyone had their own grim thoughts on what would happen next. Finally, Carter broke the silence:

"Then that means there's no time to waste. Noble Team, let's move out! We're headed for the shipyard!"

"Wait" Carth said as the SPARTANS where moving out. "What about Reach?"

"What of it?" Emile responded curtly, "You heard the doc, it's done for. We gave it our all but that just wasn't enough. There's no stopping those bastards now. The best we can do is get that package off of here and hope it can carry the war effort, which I personally doubt, but it ain't my place to say."

"Emile's right" Carter added "I of all people don't want to admit this, but there's nothing more that can be done for Reach. We have to focus on this last mission."

Carth thought for a moment, and finally, he stated "I've seen whole worlds be reduced to ash by the Sith and the Mandalorians, but only once have I willingly abandoned a world in need, and I don't plan to do it again. I wouldn't be much of a soldier if I did."

"Admiral, there is NOTHING MORE THAT CAN BE DONE. The Covenant will glass this world, and when they start, there's no stopping it. I've seen if enough times before to know. We've done our best, and we've saved as many as we could, but now it's time to make some sacrifices. The planet isn't much use to anyone anymore in its current state anyway."

Again, there was silence. Finally, Carth nodded. "I understand. Very well. Let's deliver this "package" of yours, and hopefully we'll all live to fight another day."

"Carth, do you want me to gather up the troops?" Daemon asked.

"Yes, I think that we should tell them what they're in for."

And so Daemon called in the Republic soldiers, who came in and lined up in rows, and Carth gave a bit of a speech, despite knowing that that was far from a strength of his:

"Now I'm not a man of words and big speeches, so I'll try to be brief here: I know that when we set off from Coruscant this was not exactly the kind of situation you all imagined going to. Instead of tracking down the Sith Lord we were supposed to, we have wound up stranded in an uncharted area of space, on a planet that's never heard of us experiencing its final hours. But I don't believe in coincidences. I feel that we've been brought here for a reason. And I should think that that reason is obvious enough. We need to help these people any way we can. Delivering this "package", that will help these people's war effort, that is how we help them. Now, I would be lying if I said that all of you would be making it out of this alive, but don't let that knowledge weaken your resolve. These people have given everything they have to defend their planet. We need to do the same."

It was then that Daemon walked up. "I've heard better Admiral, but I must say you said it better than I would have." He then turned to the soldiers: "Well you heard your admiral, load up and move out!"

At this, all of the Republic Soldiers saluted and moved off with the SPARTANS of Noble Team, who walked out to board a Pelican. Carth Onasi turned to a Twi'lek soldier.

"Flexil, escort the Doctor to the place called "CASTLE Base."

Upon hearing this, Halsey eyed the green-skinned soldier and his head-tails with a bit of revulsion. Seeing your fellow humans be butchered by aliens tended to make one a bit prejudiced, even if they weren't the same aliens.

"I require no escort, Admiral-"

Carth cut her off. "And make sure _nothing_ falls into enemy hands."

"I'll do what's necessary, sir... " the soldier said in his native language, which only Carth and Daemon understood. "Good Luck."

"You too, soldier."

Meanwhile, the SPARTANS of Noble Team all loaded onto one Pelican. Carter took the pilot's seat, and Noble 6, Kat, Emile, and Jun all filed into the back.

"I need a heading, Dot."

The AI "Auntie Dot"'s voice, an emotionless, feminine, British accent, came on "At three kilometers north, turn right. Heading zero-five-zero."

"Which leads to?"

"The ship-breaking yard in Azsod. The only off-planet extraction point left on this continent. Small scale air attacks have decimated many convoys en route. An armada of Covenant and "Sith" cruisers have hastened to the site as well. UNSC cruiser, _Pillar of Autumn_ is awaiting your arrival."

"Wouldn't be a Noble mission if it were easy." Carter said as the Pelican took off.

The stage was set for one last stand.

Meanwhile, on the _Truth and Reconciliation, _all of the Elites that where to be leading the final ground invasion gathered before their shipmaster and Supreme Commander. This included Reggad 'Nogardee and his old friends, Dranol 'Nosrednee, an Elite recently promoted to the Spec Ops division, and Lellt 'Retee. When the Supreme Commander at last appeared before his brothers, it was a fairly silent reception. There was no resounding ovation when he appeared. Everyone was silent and listening. He had a bit of a speech to give:

"My brothers, for ages now, our Covenant has fought for the Great Journey. The holy trek into the divine beyond that we have so long struggled and died for. But the humans would deny us our holy destiny. They would stand in our way. And that is why they must burn. And why their world must burn until it's surface is but a lifeless sheet of glass. You all of course, already know this. But I feel I must remind you why we fight, in the event that you have any doubts about committing what some might call "genocide" I ask you, not merely as your shipmaster, but also as your brother-in-arms, to fight, and fight to the death if need be, to bring down the human vermin, and continue our long struggle to holy salvation."

The end of the Shipmaster's speech was met with deafening applause from his brothers. The Elites where already drawing their weapons, to symbolize their demanding the blood of the humans. Finally, they all filed into their awaiting Phantoms. Some who where pilots got into Banshees. Regardless, all Elites present got into the ships that descended on Reach, ready to at last bring it down. Reggad 'Nogardee and his friends where all on one Phantom, speaking amongst themselves.

"The Shipmaster made an impressive speech" Reggad remarked.

"Indeed" Lellt agreed "He's always known how to rally his men. Did you see what some of the higher-ups where doing? They were pounding their chests and drawing their swords. If not for the righteousness of the cause, I'd almost have to call it barbaric..."

-X-

Noble Team's Pelican kept up its flight, alongside a Republic Gunship, still making their way to the shipyard. Then right on cue, a pair of Banshees flew in, along with a Phantom. The Republic ship quickly opened fire on the Phantom, and managed to damage it, but then Sith Fighters arrived as well, and the Republic ship had to make some quick aerial maneuvers to avoid being shot down. The gunship retaliated with rockets that hit one of the Sith fighters but not the other three. Meanwhile, the Banshees and the Phantom began opening fire on the Pelican. Emile took out a grenade launcher and started firing grenades at the Banshees, but it wasn't terribly successful. Finally, one of the Banshee's fired a fuel rod blast at the Pelican. Carter carried it up just enough to keep the blast from flying into the troop area, but the blast still damaged the Pelican badly. Emile fired off another grenade, using its EMP effect to shut down one of the Banshees, causing it to plummet and explode upon colliding with the earth. Unfortunately, the Phantom kept up its assault all the same, but at least the Pelican was able to avoid it reasonably well due to Carter's skilled piloting. By now, the Republic Gunship had finished off the Sith fighters, and fired another round of rockets at the Phantom, destroying it instantly. Unfortunately, the other Banshee still landed another shot before being destroyed as well, shaking the Pelican violently. Noble 6 and Emile found themselves tumbling out of the back of the Pelican.

"SIX!" Kat shouted, reaching out with her hand as Noble 6 fell out along with Emile. The two went tumbling, before finally landing hard on the dusty earth. They staggered to their feet. Noble 6 checked the device Halsey had given him, now strapped on his back. Still intact, thankfully. The two made their way to a cliff face overlooking a canyon-desert region. The area was already crawling with Covenant. And "crawling" was a gross understatement. They were everywhere; Grunts, Jackals, Skirmishers, Brutes, Elites, and even Hunters where forming by the dozens, if not hundreds. Backing them up where humanoid soldiers in black and silver suits of armor armed with weapons similar to the ones the Republic soldiers carried, but with several notable differences; namely being sleeker, and of a light gray color. In addition to these soldiers, there were several more humanoids in light gray outfits with black boots, gloves, tunics, and hoods. They appeared to be the leaders of the other humans, at least as far as Noble 6 could tell.

"Those guys with the Covenant must be the Sith" he muttered.

"Yeah I guess so" Emile responded. He tried to sound emotionless as usual, but even he understood the severity of the situation. Emile and Noble 6 got into the nearby Mongoose, Noble 6 took the driver's seat and Emile sat in the back, and the two sped off into the distance. They drove through a group of grunts, running some over, and continued driving, Noble 6 trying to manage the steering wheel, and trying not to tip the very sensitive little car over. As Noble 6 kept driving, Emile was shooting down any grunt or jackal that the mongoose happened to miss as it continued its borderline suicide course through the Covenant army. Finally, the Sith Troopers started to open fire as well, laser blasts zipping through the air and narrowly missing the two SPARTANS.

"Six! It's the Sith!" Emile shouted.

"I know, I know, hang on" Noble 6 remarked, swerving to avoid another barrage of laser fire from the Sith Trooper's guns. But as they swerved, Noble 6 began to lose control of the Mongoose, and worse still, a Sith Trooper threw a grenade directly in the Mongoose's direction. Luckily, Noble 6 saw it coming just in time.

"Emile, get out of the Mongoose now!" Noble 6 shouted. For once, Emile did as he was told and leaped out as Noble 6 abandoned the Mongoose to its explosive end. He quickly shot the approaching Sith Troopers in the head with his DMR. Emile, meanwhile, quickly got up and threw a frag grenade at some of the Sith and Grunts. The two SPARTANS then started running, Noble 6 using his rocket launcher to bring down a pair of charging Hunters. There was a bridge up ahead, in the distance, and Six and Emile knew Carter would be able to see them and pick them up. So Noble 6 and Emile kept running, desperately avoiding the torrent of lasers, plasma bolts, and needle rounds that came their way. A massive Brute suddenly appeared, but Emile blasted it at point-blank range with his shotgun and it fell down immediately. He and Noble 6 kept sprinting, finally reaching the bridge. Noble 6 turned around and started shooting at the pursuing Jackals. Just as the last one went down to his marksmen-ship, more Sith Troopers started to appear, along with Skirmishers, the deadliest of all Jackals. But then, out of nowhere, they where all vaporized from above. Noble 6 looked up, and saw that it was the Republic Gunship.

"SPARTANS, this is Nortom. I'm the one who's been providing covering fire for you and your ship. I'll be escorting you the rest of the way."

As Nortom spoke, Carter's Pelican flew in, and Emile and Noble 6 ran onto the ship as it flew off, narrowly avoiding shots from a Grunt Heavy's fuel rod gun as it flew away.

"Glad to have you back" Jun remarked.

"All right" Carter said, "the path to the shipyard we need to get to is far from clear, so hang on tight, and if you see any enemy resistance, be sure to shoot it down as quickly as possible, the Republic ship can't take everything down for us."

"That was some nice flying there by the way SPARTAN" Nortom complimented. "It's Good to see I'm not the only soldier with some piloting skills."

"Just keep sharp Nortom, we're not out of this yet" Carter warned.

The two ships kept up their flight for a little longer, before they reached a canyon. They flew through. Upon doing so however, they were promptly greeted by a swarm of Drones, or "buggers" as they were more often called. They flew in random directions, covering up the Pelican's windshield, making it difficult for Carter to see. The Republic Ship opened fire on the Drones, but they flew in seemingly random formations that where surprisingly effective at keeping them safe from harm. Only three drones where killed in the first barrage. The remaining drones began firing on the Pelican. Their plasma pistol shots did no real damage, but then some began to latch onto the Pelican and started clawing at it like frenzied dogs attacking a piece of meat. This was especially bad because there was no way Nortom could shoot them down without also shooting the Pelican. As it was, Nortom kept firing at the Drones still in the air, and again, only managed to hit a few. Some more flew around to the troop area of the Pelican and where greeted with a vicious barrage of bullets that promptly cut them all down. No pack of drones would ever take down a true SPARTAN team like Noble. Noble 6 cringed a little as he saw the dead Drones plummet. He hated the buggers. More so then most of the other Covenant species. They were damn annoying and rather creepy looking at that, not to mention hard to kill. And they'd almost gotten him more than once.

Finally, the two ships came out of the canyon, drones still clawing at the Pelican viciously and still more flying around. More Sith Fighters came in, and started shooting at the Pelican, which the pilots could clearly see was the more damaged vessel of the two. By now, the Pelican could take no more abuse, and began to smoke and catch on fire, as well as lose momentum.

"Noble Team, the Pelican is going down, I repeat the Pelican is going down, brace for impact!"

Carter steered the Pelican down to the surface while the Republic Ship entered a dogfight with the Sith Fighters. The Pelican continued to plummet, until at last is crashed violently, killing some of the drones that where still latched onto it while others flew away at the last minute, only to be caught in the crossfire of the dogfight happening above them. As the Pelican screeched to a stop, the members of Noble Team staggered out of the destroyed vehicle, and readied themselves for more fighting. Carter smashed the cracked windshield and staggered out, his DMR drawn and ready. He turned to his team.

"Let's move Noble Team, we still have a job to do. Come on, we can't afford to lag!"

The other SPARTANS did as they were told and followed Carter's lead. Meanwhile, Nortom destroyed the last of the Sith fighters and radioed Carter:

"SPARTAN, I just shot down the last Sith fighter but more are on approach. I'm going to keep them busy, and make sure the skies stay clear while you and your team continue your mission on foot. Sorry if this seems like I'm ditching you, but I think it's the smartest route to take."

"Understood soldier, we'll keep moving, just keep the skies clear as promised. Commander A-259 out."

But as the SPARTANS kept moving, they were confronted with a truly nightmarish sight: a massive, purple four-legged Covenant vehicle lumbered towards them, its huge frontal cannon already glowing a sickly green and getting ready for the kill. The five SPARTANS of Noble Team all rushed for cover, knowing they stood no chance against the Scarab. Nortom flew in at that moment.

"Nortom this is Carter, a Scarab is blocking our path, we can't get past it."

"No you can't. Not without help."

"Nortom, your gunship doesn't have the firepower!"

By now, the Scarab noticed the SPARTAN team and began to charge up its main cannon, aiming right at their meager excuses for cover. Nortom fired a volley of gunship rockets at the Scarab, turning its attention to him. Nortom fired then fired at the Scarab again, damaging part of it as he flew circles around it.

"You underestimate what these gunships can do SPARTAN. I've got this. You just complete your mission" he said over the COM reassuringly as he fired yet another volley at the Scarab.

Carter hesitated a bit before finally saying "All right Nortom. Give it hell."

"Will do. See you when you're done SPARTAN"

With this, Noble Team made their to the nearby UNSC facility, fighting their way through hordes of Covenant aliens and their new Sith allies. The minute a SPARTAN ran out of ammunition for a weapon during the intense firefight, they'd throw it to the ground and grab something else, anything else. They couldn't afford to stop, not now, not with things at their worst and with the stakes so high. Eventually, the team reached an abandoned building inside the facility that they holed up in. Noble 6 found ammo for his rocket launcher and started raining rockets down on the Covenant below. Several Grunts, Skirmishers, and even Elites where cut down. Reggad 'Nogardee and a few others survived the initial barrage and continued their own as Reggad hollered out orders:

"Aim for the Demon with the explosive weapon!" Reggad ordered, as he kept firing his twin Plasma rifles at the humans, careful not to let either one overheat. Jun popped out from behind cover and fired his sniper rifle at Reggad. Reggad rolled to avoid it just in time, and fell back behind the building along with the remaining two Elites to plan a new strategy:

"You, soldier! Arm your plasma grenades and aim for the demon with the heavy weapon. You, stay close to me. We will provide covering fire for our brother."

Both Elites responded with grunts of obedience and then followed Reggad in circling around to take aim. The first Elite did as he was told and prepared to hurl a Plasma Grenade. Fortunately for Noble Team, Jun saw in time and shouted at his fellow SPARTANS to move out of the way as he shot the Elite down. This enraged Reggad and the other Minor and they unleashed a barrage of Plasma fire as Sith Troopers came to their aid. Soon, Noble Team where being hit from all sides.

"Noble Team, abandon the building! Fall back further to the edge of the facility!" Carter ordered.

The Team did as instructed and ran off the building, gunning down more Covenant and Sith as they landed. Carter radioed Carth as he shot a Sith Trooper in the head and another in the chest, wincing a little as he knew he was killing fellow humans this time instead of aliens.

"Jedi! Admiral Onasi! This is Commander A-259! We're surrounded and under heavy fire, I'm not sure how much longer we'll last. Where are you? We need support here!"

Carth responded, as he dodged Plasma shots and laser blasts and retaliated with his own:

"I'm sorry Carter, but Daemon and I are pinned down. The Sith and Covenant here are tightly packed, and are putting up quite a fight. It's down to just a few of us, and I want to…"

The sound of Carth dodging more blaster fire and Daemon deflecting a blaster bolt back at a Sith Trooper could be heard.

"…And I want to keep what few men I still have left alive. I am sorry, but I can't come to your aid, not ye—"

Carth was interrupted by having to dodge the melee strikes of a Sith Trooper before shooting him down.

"I'm sorry Carter, I really am. Admiral Onasi out."

And with that, the channel went silent. Carter shouted out to the rest of Noble Team: "Noble Team, the Republic forces are pinned down, we need to make it on our own, so keep running!"

"Well they where a ton of help…." Emile sarcastically muttered under his breath as he kept running along with everyone else. Finally, the team reached the edge of the facility. More Brutes, Elites, and Sith where waiting for them. One of the Brutes was a Chieftain. If hefted its massive Plasma Turret and began firing. The SPARTANS ducked to different sides to avoid it.

"This is it Noble Team, their last line of defense! Keep up the pressure, take down the Chieftain first!"

Carter and Jun opened fire on the Elites who returned fire with their Plasma Rifles and Needlers. Emile gunned down the Brutes that charged him. Meanwhile, Noble 6 followed Carter's advice and fired his last rocket at the Chieftain. The blast was enough to take him down, but not before several shots of the Plasma Turret hit him, depleting his shields a bit. A Dark Jedi who was near Noble 6 blasted him with Force Lightning. Noble 6 felt his shields be fried and his armor short-circuit as he fell to his knees from the strike. The Dark Jedi raised his lightsaber and prepared to behead Noble 6 when a shot rang out and he fell down dead. Noble 6 saw that Kat was standing over him, pistol drawn and smoking. She then kneeled beside him, hand outstretched to help him up.

"Six, are you OK?" Kat asked, for once showing obvious concern in her voice. Noble 6 got up and smiled under his helmet even though he knew Kat couldn't see.

"Glad to see you've taken to calling me six like everyone else. I'm doing fine honey, glad to see you're concerned."

"Don't honey me you arrogant Son-of-bitch." Kat retorted. "Besides, we aren't out of this yet."

Noble 6 stood up and started shooting at the Sith Troopers with his DMR. Kat followed suit with headshots from her pistol. Meanwhile, Reggad showed up with more Grunts as well as his fellow Elites.

"Smite the demons!" Reggad ordered

Unfortunately, one of the Grunts, a gunner, was just a tad too overeager in carrying out that order and shrieked with a strange mix of glee and religious fervor as he fired his Fuel Rod Gun at the SPARTANS

"Yes sir! Take this Heretics!" the Grunt squealed

"No you fool! Not yet!"

But it was too late. The Grunt fired the shot before Reggad had given the order. The SPARTANS not only saw it coming and dodged, but the blast also hit the remaining Elites the SPARTANS were fighting instead. It either killed them or fried their energy shields, making them easy pickings for Kat and Emile. Carter turned around and head-shotted the Grunt Gunner who fell backwards as he was shot. Needless to say, Reggad was more than a little infuriated and proceeded to vent his frustration out by firing his two plasma rifles at the SPARTANS. Reggad knew he had to move quickly if he wanted to finish off the demons, so he ordered his remaining Elites to form a line and ready their weapons. He turned to the two minors with concussion rifles.

"Fire!"

The Minors did as they were told and opened fire with their rifles as Reggad picked up the dead Grunt's fuel rod gun and fired. Pink and green-colored blasts flew straight at the SPARTANS, but Noble 6 saw the coming in time.

"Everybody move!" He shouted. Everyone ducked out of the way. Reggad shouted out again:

"Fire again!"

The Minors fired yet another barrage. This time, more Elites with Plasma Rifles fired as well. Things were getting hectic; and Carter, Kat, and Jun where so busy dodging that they couldn't fire off a shot with their weapons. Emile was also not much help, since he only had a shotgun. Only Noble 6 was able to fire off a few rounds from his DMR, right before it ran out of ammo.

"That's not good…."

"Fire!"

The SPARTANS dodged yet another barrage. Jun tried to land a shot, but was too busy dodging and missed his mark, for perhaps the first time in his life.

Reggad turned and could see Dark Jedi coming to his aid, red lightsabers drawn. Pleased by the sight of reinforcements, Reggad shouted once more, this time to all of the Covenant with him:

"FIRE AT WILL!"

All of the Elites and Grunts opened fire with their respective weapons. By this point however, Noble Team was re-mobilizing against the barrage. Jun fired off another shot that killed one of the Elites with the Concussion Rifles. Carter and Noble 6's combined fire took down another Elite. Kat took to head-shotting some of the Grunts as well as finishing off an Elite that the others had missed. By this point, the other Elite with the Concussion Rifle fired another blast. This one hit home. Luckily for Carter, his shields where at full, so he was able to weather the blast well. Jun shot the Elite in the head, but not before it fired off another shot. That one missed completely. As the Elites kept firing and the Dark Jedi closed in, a blue blade suddenly appeared out of an Elite's chest and it fell to the ground. Another swing of the blade decapitated a Grunt. Reggad and the rest of his squad turned to face their attacker. It was Daemon, along with Carth Onasi, and a pair of Republic Soldiers.

Reggad roared in fury and back-pedaled, firing off his two Plasma Rifles, which were starting to run low on ammo. But the Jedi skillfully deflected all of the shots with his lightsaber and even sent a few back at Reggad, damaging his shields and sending him reeling. The SPARTANS, seeing their allies in the thick of things, opened fire once more, and between the two parties, not even the mighty Elites survived. Daemon, meanwhile, went at the Dark Jedi directly, his blue lightsaber clashing against the red blades of the Dark Jedi seconds before cutting each of them down.

The death of yet more of his brothers as well as the impending defeat at human hands threw Reggad into a frenzy. He turned and started firing his Plasma Rifles at Jun and started to deplete his energy shields. Unfortunately, his Plasma Rifles overheated just as Jun's shields fell completely. Cursing in his native language, Reggad put his Plasma Rifles away and an Energy Sword, the most prized, most sacred off all Sanghelli weapons. Reggad, as a Major, had just earned the right to use one.

Reggad charged at the SPARTANS in a fury, tossing a Plasma Grenade at Emile who barely dodged in time. Reggad kept running, knocking Kat and Noble 6 to the ground before they could shoot at him as he went after Jun. Jun opened fire with his sniper rifle, but his first shot missed and his second shot only damaged Reggad's shields. Reggad brought down his energy sword on Jun and….froze.

Daemon held out his hand, calling on the force to keep the Elite's blade from taking Jun's head off. Reggad couldn't understand what was going on. His mind was telling him to bring the energy sword down and slay the demon, but his arm, nay, his whole body, simply refused to so much as move an inch. Reggad was quite furious, but as his whole body was frozen stiff he had no way of expressing it physically. The SPARTANS, for their part, where just as surprised. So much so, that they didn't take a pot-shot at the Elite's head like they probably should have. Daemon meanwhile, followed things up with a massive force push that sent Reggad hurling back like he was hit by a human cannonball and knocking him into a wall which he was somehow pinned against. Reggad couldn't understand what was happening but knew it had something to do with that human with the blue sword.

Sure enough, Daemon fired another force push, this one more powerful then the last. Reggad could see the blast coming, but couldn't move, even though his mind and his instincts told him to do so. He could not. He simply could not move. Reggad figured that if this was how he was going to go on the Great Journey, then so be it. He would go out with defiance at his human killers. He roared in fury at the blast coming his way, right before it blasted him through the wall, destroying it, and knocking Reggad back. As the dust settled, the SPARTANS just stood there, awestruck. Ironically, the normally quiet Noble 6 was the first to speak up:

"Was that…the force?"

"Yes, it was."

"That was freaking incredible. You should have been on our side sooner. We definitely could have used you."

"Indeed. But let's not delay. I believe we have a ship to catch. And I sense more resistance up ahead."

"Yeah, you're right" Carter responded. "Let's go Noble Team, move out!"

And so, Noble Team, Carth, Daemon, and the Republic soldiers walked off together, Noble Six pausing only for a moment to take a look back at the wall the one Elite had been blasted through…

Author's Note: Long chapter huh? Please RR! I personally found Carth's speech to be a little weak but tell me what you think.


	7. Chapter 7: Send me out with a bang

Chapter 7: Send me out…with a bang

Noble Team, along with Daemon, Carth, and the Republic Soldiers, made their way past the edge of the facility, and smelting chambers, and into some type of landing pad area that was already swarming with Sith and Covenant forces. Carter shouted out orders:

"All right listen up! This is where we split up! Admiral, you get ready to evacuate. Your ship should be around with UNSC reinforcements to pick you up. Some of us need to fight another day and I want it to be you and this Jedi more then any of us. Jun, Emile, you and I are heading to the Mass Driver Cannon. We need it to keep the Covenant ships at bay so the Autumn doesn't get shot down. Noble 6, Kat, you and the Republic soldiers go down there and wipe those bastards off the deck. Keyes can't land the _Pillar of Autumn_ until it's clear, understood?"

"Understood Commander" Kat replied.

Carter then addressed everyone: "This is it. The big finish. I can already safely say that some of us, most of us, will not be making it out of this. But I know that if I'm going out, I want to go out with a bang. And take as many Covvies as I can with me. So let's move, and make this fight a good one."

All of the SPARTANS, and even the Republic Soldiers (though more out of habit for them) all saluted and replied "Yes sir, Commander."

"All right, you two should go now" Jun said to Carth and Daemon. Daemon turned to Carter and said "Commander Carter. Admiral Onasi will be leaving. But I'm coming with you."

"I'm not gonna object, your skills will definitely come in handy when things really go to hell…" Carter trailed off and then put his hand to his helmet and spoke to Captain Keyes via his COM:

"This is Noble One to Captain Keyes, we're at the pad."

"Copy Noble. My Pelican's ready. Clear an LZ and I'll meet you there"

"Understood." Carter then turned to his team and their new allies.

"Noble, split up and move out!"

No sooner did Carter give the order then Kat, Noble 6, and the Republic Soldiers race at their destination and began mercilessly cutting down any and all Sith, Grunts, Jackals, and Brutes in their way. Any Dark Jedi in the area had run off to engage Daemon, what with him being a Jedi and all, and so the SPARTANS and Republic Soldiers had a fairly easy time taking down the enemy presence. By now, Noble 6 had gone through more guns then he could count, and his current load-out: a shotgun and a grenade launcher, both needed reloading. He went down into the T-shaped storeroom to restock as Kat and the Republic soldiers manned the area.

Meanwhile, Carter, Emile, Daemon, and Jun were making their way up to the Mass Driver Cannon. As they were however, a red lightsaber blade ripped through the air. Carter saw it in time and pushed Emile and Daemon out of the way. The blade cut Carter's shoulder, damaging his energy shields and slicing his large shoulder pauldron in two. Carter shot the Dark Jedi in the head as he was calling his saber back to him but more Dark Jedi and Sith Apprentices ran up. Daemon quickly cut one down and engaged the others as Carter provided covering fire.

"Emile! Get to the Mass Driver Cannon! Daemon and I will hold off the Sith!"

"And leave the heroic death to you? Bite me Commande—"

"NO TIME TO ARGUE EMILE! Get your ass up those stairs and to the driver cannon and hurry! We can't hold them back for long!"

Carter was giving the order at the top of his lungs, desperately firing his DMR as he did so. For the first time in the many years he'd known him, Emile sensed fear in Carter's voice, and indeed, for the first time ever, Carter WAS afraid. Less for his own life, which he already knew was probably going to end soon, but more for the sake of the mission, which if it failed would spell doom for humanity. And so, Emile listened and ran up, following Jun and mowing down the Elites that came his way by blasting them at point-blank range with his shotgun. As he did, Daemon and Carter continued their desperate fight.

Meanwhile, back at the landing pad area, hordes of Brutes, Grunts, and Elites had descended on the platform. Kat and the Republic soldiers where already under heavy fire as Noble 6 came running up and let loose with his grenade launcher, managing to kill two Brutes and some Grunts as more kept coming. Kat moved back as more Brutes and Elites closed in. The Republic soldiers opened fire on the Brutes and Elites but found themselves overrun. One of them ran out of ammo at a most inconvenient time as a particularly large Brute was bearing down on him. He drew his pistol and shot the Brute in the head several times. All the blasts did was blow the Brute's helmet off. Kat saw this and quickly shot the Brute in the head with her pistol. The Republic soldier backpedaled, taking out a blaster pistol and firing it a few times as his companion and Noble 6 provided covering fire. Noble 6 killed another Brute and then threw a stolen plasma grenade at an Elite Major. The Major dodged the grenade but it did stick to another Elite. The resulting detonation killed it and the Grunts next to it.

A Brute Chieftain came up next, along with several more Brute minors and Spec Ops Elites accompanying it. The Brute Chieftain brought down its gravity hammer, creating a massive shockwave that knocked the Republic Soldiers and SPARTANS on the ground. As one of the Republic Soldiers struggled to get up, a Brute Captain advanced on him. The soldier turned and aimed his blaster. The Brute grabbed his blaster arm, crushing it, held him aloft, and broke his neck.

"Ghall noooo!" shouted the other Republic Soldier in agony.

The soldier angrily fired his blaster at the Brute's head but all it did was annoy him. The Brute tossed Ghall's body away and started firing its Spiker at him. Kat turned and started firing shots of her own but they did no real damage. The Brute Chieftain attempted to bring his hammer down on Kat while she was distracted but Noble 6 saw it in time. Grabbing the hammer with one hand, he kept it over Kat's head before forcing it to the ground and then rapidly shot the Brute Chieftain four times at point-blank range with his shotgun. The Chieftain's armor splintered and broke apart and its shields sputtered and died under the relentless hail. The Brute roared in fury but Noble 6 merely shot the chieftain one final time, killing him. No sooner had the Chieftain fallen then Noble 6's shields came under fire from the Spec Ops Elites.

"That's it! Time to retreat!" Noble Six shouted.

He, Kat, and the other Republic soldier ran back a bit behind cover as more Brutes and Elites advanced, accompanied by Grunts and Jackals.

"Thanks by the way" Kat said.

"Don't mention it, Noble 6 said. He then handed Kat his grenade launcher.

"You may want to consider using something other than your bloody pistol though."

"Yes, I think you're right" Kat said, taking the grenade launcher and reloading it. She waited for some Elites and Jackals to advance, and popped out and fired a grenade at them. The blast killed the jackals and one Elite and Noble 6 shot down another as he closed in. One of the Spec Ops Elites started shooting at his shields again and Six ducked back behind cover.

Meanwhile, up top, Carter and Daemon were surrounded by hordes of advancing Sith and Elites. They were fighting back to back. Carter was firing off his DMR, Daemon was deflecting blaster bolts and plasma blasts as he continued to fend off Dark Jedi and Sith Apprentices. By now, a pair of Elite Generals pushed past their subordinates and charged the Jedi. Daemon deflected the first one's energy sword strike and then parried a blow from the other as he landed a strike of his own. He was now engaged in a duel against the two Elite leaders.

Carter, for his part, was being overrun. As Daemon engaged the two Elite Generals, several more Elites, mostly Commanders (or Ultras, as they were known) were firing on Carter with their plasma repeaters, and the rapid fire plasma bolts were tearing through his shields. Carter kept firing, but it was useless. His DMR just wasn't cut out for stripping shields and certainly not the shields of high-ranking Elites like these. It was time to improvise. Carter grabbed a Plasma Repeater of his own from one of the Elites he had killed and let loose. He stripped one Elite's shields, then another, and then one more before the Plasma Repeater ran out of juice. Carter threw it aside and quickly re-drew his DMR, shooting the Elites in the heads before their shields regained their strength as he desperately attempted to withstand their retaliating fire. Unfortunately, another Elite fired his concussion rifle at Carter, and this time, he didn't move quickly enough. The blast was a direct hit, and his energy shields were already down.

The concussive force of the blast knocked Carter back and he felt at least one broken bone. The world swam for a brief moment before coming back into focus. Carter rolled and tried to hide behind cover, now bleeding heavily from the injury as the Elites closed in on his position. Carter tried to breath slowly, but all he could do was pant. He spat out some blood. It was over for him. The world was already spinning somewhat, and he could feel himself losing more blood. But as he had already said, if he was going out, it would be with a bang, however small. Carter made a silent prayer, reloaded his DMR for what he knew would be the last time, and leaped out.

He never killed a single Elite. And the Elites never killed him. Before anyone could fire a single shot, Carter found himself frozen, and his throat was seizing up. He instinctively gasped for air, holding his throat tight as he was suddenly raised aloft. A Sith stepped out of the shadows, hand outstretched. This Sith was different from the others, the gray parts of the Dark Jedi's uniforms where red for him and he seemed to be some sort of leader amongst them. The Sith that held Carter in a force grip shocked him with force lightning as he was being held aloft. The blast was crippling and only added to the excruciating pain Carter was already in. The Sith then threw Carter around like a rag-doll, tossing him this way and that, and even slamming him against the floor, which knocked off his helmet to reveal his beaten, scarred, bloody face. The Sith raised Carter aloft once more, and activated one of the red blades on his double-sided lightsaber.

"Are you ready to die?" he asked, in a tone that surprisingly lacked any real sadism or malevolence. Just anger. Pure, unfocused anger.

Carter, though he was finding it increasingly difficult to breath, managed to utter, one last time: "SPARTANS don't die jack-ass. They're just missing in action."

If the Sith, Drakot felt one way or another about that belief, or the insult, he didn't show it. Instead, he pulled Carter towards him with the force, running the lightsaber through him. Then he deactivated the lightsaber and Carter fell to the floor. The leader of Noble Team, one of the greatest SPARTAN IIIs of all; was dead.

Drakot, stared blankly at the SPARTAN he had just mercilessly impaled upon his lightsaber with only the slightest bit of interest. He didn't care that he'd killed him, obviously. No, it was the SPARTAN that intrigued him slightly, not regret…

"You're skills are indeed impressive"

Drakot turned around and saw an Elite approach him. It wore reddish orange armor that looked slightly damaged. One of the creature's four mandibles was also missing. Indeed, the Elite had an unmistakable look of barely contained fury on his face. But it was not directed at Drakot.

"Major Reggad 'Nogardee of the Covenant. The demons and their new allies killed the rest of my men. I alone survive. I wish to avenge my dead brothers, so if you would please move aside so I may slay the demons above, I would appreciate it." Reggad said that last bit in a very sarcastic, insulting tone. Indeed, Drakot entertained the idea of simply killing the Elite just like that for being so rude to him, but instead, he merely let him pass. Almost immediately after he did, a blue lightsaber blade ripped through the air in the opposite direction, cutting down two Sith Apprentices as it flew back into its owner's hands.

"Drakot."

Drakot turned. Daemon, the enigmatic Jedi Knight, stood there over the two now dead Elite Generals, lightsaber ready. Drakot grinned underneath his black mouth-mask. He'd been looking forward to this encounter. He reactivated his red lightsaber without a word and entered a fighting stance. Daemon prepared himself for the duel. As he did, he thought about Carter, who he had been unable to save, but then pushed that sadness to the back of his head. He couldn't afford to feel that now. Now, it was do or die. Daemon and Drakot slowly side-stepped, Drakot to the left, Daemon to the right. And then, they stopped. For a moment, neither one moved. The scores of Sith and Dark Jedi all stood around them, eager to see their master cut down the Jedi Knight.

Finally, after about five seconds, without warning, Daemon and Drakot lunged at each-other, each one delivering a flurry of blows that the other was barely able to deflect. Drakot fought as befitting a Sith Lord of his nature: like a beast that had been driven to unimaginable fury. Daemon took the defensive, but also knew how to keep Drakot on his toes. It was a battle of opposites, Jedi Vs. Sith, Soresu Vs. Djem So, Defensive Vs. Aggressive. But neither combatant was stupid; they knew how to alternate when the occasion called for it. Daemon dodged Drakot's slashes aimed for the head, then raising his lightsaber in a horizontal angle, blocked Drakot's next thrust. The blocked strike caused Drakot to reel back upon impact, but Daemon knew better then to take that as a sign to move in. Drakot would recover quickly and cut him down. No, instead, Daemon opted to stay put and land a strike near the side. Drakot deflected this blow and retaliated with another strike aimed for the head which Daemon blocked. As Drakot continued his offensive he fed off of the war happening around him, and of the humans and the Covenant's hatred for one another, to increase his own strength. His blows increased in both frequency and ferocity, and Daemon found himself being backed against a corner. It was time to go on the offensive. He twirled around at the last moment as Drakot was about to land another strike and landed his own, which Drakot only barely managed to block. Daemon switched from Soresu to Makashki, a form more suited for duels like the one he was in due to its fencing-esque nature, and moved forward. Drakot, already anticipating the change in lightsaber forms, kept his guard up, ready to block any blow Daemon would land and then reply in kind.

-X-

Meanwhile, the remaining Elites where making their way up to the mass driver cannon where Emile awaited. Upon arriving, they found the demon furiously engaged with an Elite Zealot, one of the absolute highest ranks an Elite could achieve. They commanded great respect from their brethren. This one was clad in the traditional golden armor of Zealots, not the new ornate, maroon-colored suits that most new Zealots wore. Reggad and the other Elites where about to move in when the Zealot held up its hand as an indication to halt. It wanted to kill this demon personally. The other Elites understood and stayed put. This was the Zealot's fight. Unfortunately for the Elites, while they chose not to help the Zealot kill Emile, it left them open to a certain sniper's uncanny accuracy….

Jun shot the first Elite twice in the head. Once to disrupt his energy shields and again to kill him. The other Elites turned around and started shooting at Jun who took cover again as the plasma shots came his way.

"Emile, perhaps you would like to get to the Mass Drive Cannon and take down that cruiser when it shows up, so it doesn't, you know, blasts the Autumn in half?"

"In a minute, I'm busy! Emile snapped back as he ducked to dodge a vertical swing from the Zealot's energy sword. Emile would have taken the opportunity to shoot the bastard at point-blank range with his shotgun following the miss, but the Elite had already sliced it in two. He was going to have to improvise.

Emile waited for the Elite to land another strike that he dodged, and then quickly moved in and punched him in the stomach as hard as he could. The Elite reeled back a bit from the blow and Emile swiped the plasma rifle holstered on its side. Emile opened fire with the plasma rifle as fast and furiously as he could. The Elite swung its energy sword at him in the hopes of disarming him but he merely ducked out of the way and resumed his barrage. Emile kept up the attack, dodging when he needed to and finally, the Elite's shields sputtered and gave way, and the Zealot let out an angry cry. Emile, true to his audacious nature, charged toward the Zealot. It grabbed Emile's arm as he ran at him and pulled him towards him with the intent of impaling him on his energy sword. Emile jammed his kukri dagger into the Elite's eye in response, causing it to slash his arm rather then run him through. The Elite then pinned Emile and got ready to finish him off. Emile, though his arm felt like it was on fire, ignored the pain and jammed the kukri dagger into the Elite again. Then he slashed, cutting off two of the Elite's mandibles. Now the Elite was furious but in too much pain to keep its hold on Emile. Emile rolled, kicking the Elite back as he did, and tossed a grenade at him. The blast injured it further, and also incapacitated it. Emile picked up his dagger again, and ran at the Zealot. The Zealot made a last, desperate blind slash at Emile, cutting his side a bit. Emile retaliated by stabbing the Elite one last time.

By now, Jun had cut down several more Elites, and got ready to snipe the last few when he heard something coming his way. Turning around too late, Jun found an Elite Minor on top of him trying to kill him, landing a punch that missed Jun's face by inches. Jun shot it at point-blank range with his sniper rifle, and it reeled back, bleeding freely. Jun then whacked it with his sniper rifle like it was some kind of hammer, and the Elite fell down dead. But as Jun was distracted, the other Elites ran towards Emile in a fury, determined to avenge the Zealot he had just slain. Emile turned too late, and an Elite Ultra slashed his knife hand off and attempted to impale him. Emile backpedaled furiously. He threw another frag grenade with his remaining hand but it was no use. The Elite Ultra knocked him to the ground and closed in. It stood over him, energy sword raised for the kill.

"Come on..." Emile goaded. "Try and kill me"

The Elite stabbed Emile with his energy sword before pulling it out. Emile still lived, but only barely. Knowing that his time was up, Emile, using the last of his strength, unveiled a very…"special" button.

"I'M READY! HOW 'BOUT YOU!" Emile shouted in defiance before pressing the button. It detonated all of the remaining grenades he had on him. The blast killed the elite commander standing over him along with two other Elites. Jun saw all of this in horror.

"EMILE!" Jun shouted. The remaining Elites turned to face him. Jun immediately shot one in the head. Then another. Reggad and the other few Elites got the message and took cover. Jun kept shooting, not caring if he missed or not.

"You like that!" Jun shouted as he kept firing. Finally, Jun threw several frag grenades to flush the remaining Elites out of cover. Two of them leaped right where Jun wanted them to and he shot them dead as well. 

"NOW YOU'VE PISSED ME OFF!"

Back down below, Emile's kamikaze sacrifice could be heard by Daemon and the Sith. For a moment, the duel between Daemon and Drakot stopped. Daemon could feel Emile pass into the force as Carter had.

"It would seem that your allies have failed." Drakot remarked.

Daemon felt a brief spurt of anger, but he did not lash out, even though he could have easily given into his anger and decapitated Drakot at that exact moment. He could see Drakot's expression in his yellow eyes as he smothered his anger. He looked almost disappointed.

Regardless, Drakot resumed his stance as well, now activating the second blade on his lightsaber, and the duel began anew. Drakot kept up his offensive as Daemon dodged, blocked, and countered. He made a downward slash aimed for Drakot's shoulder in the hopes of incapacitating him. Drakot blocked it and lunged as he delivered another vertical slash, this one aimed at Daemon's mid-section. Daemon leaped over it, landed and took the offensive, making several more consecutive blows, his lightsaber swinging around and around like a whirring blue cyclone. Drakot began to retaliate with blasts of force lightning. Daemon deflected the blasts, and even called on the force to redirect one back at Drakot. Drakot simply reabsorbed the blast and fired it again. Daemon dodged it and the blast took down one of the watching Dark Jedi.

Drakot found himself growing deeply irritated with the charade that this duel had become. He moved in, spinning his double-bladed lightsaber around and around, landing blow after blow with both blades. Daemon backpedaled. This was not a battle he could win, not with Drakot feeding off of the Dark Side so easily and with all of the Sith and Dark Jedi surrounding the pair, ready to pitch in at a moment's notice. He had to flee. And so Daemon blasted Drakot back with a force push he was not expecting and ran. Drakot recovered quickly and viciously charged towards the Jedi Knight. Nearby Dark Jedi attempted to stop his escape, but they were quickly cut down. Daemon ran up to where the Mass Driver Cannon was, using the force to bring down debris and barricade the entrance with the force as he entered. Upon reaching the area, he saw a heap of Elite corpses. And in the center of the carnage was Jun, panting, his sniper rifle held limply in one hand and now out of ammo. Daemon called out to him:

"Jun?"

For a brief moment Jun did not respond. He just stood there, as if Daemon wasn't there, holding Emile's skull-faced helmet, now all that remained of him, and staring into it, it's empty grim visage meeting his own helmet's faceless stare.

"Alas, poor Emile. I knew him well..."

Then, slowly, Jun turned to look at Daemon:

"Jedi…Emile's dead. Carter is too, isn't he?"

Daemon did not need to say yes. A simple nod sufficed. With half of his team now dead, Jun knew what had to be done. He radioed Noble 6. Noble 6 was, meanwhile, not doing so well either. The hordes of Elites and Brutes where still bearing down on him and Kat. The other Republic Soldier had since been killed by more Elites and Noble 6 and Kat where getting desperate. Then, Noble 6 got Jun's radio-transmission:

"Noble 6, Kat, you still there?" Jun asked.

Noble 6 kept shooting at the Elites and Brutes as Kat answered:

"Yes Jun. We're still alive. Barely."

"All right listen: Emile's been killed. So has Carter. The Pillar of Autumn is going to be here any second, so we don't have much time. You two need to get to the Mass Driver Cannon and destroy the Covenant cruiser that's on its way here or they won't make it out."

For a moment, neither SPARTAN responded. All Jun could hear from the other end where the sounds of gunfire and explosions, and the dying screams of Covenant aliens. Finally, Noble 6 answered:

"You got it Jun."

Jun cleared the channel. He turned to Daemon:

"We need to go. Now."

"Wait, what about Kat and Noble 6?"

"Well, at least one of them needs to stay behind to activate the Mass Driver Cannon. And once the ships come to evacuate us…."

"The SPARTAN who mans the cannon will have to be left behind." Daemon finished Jun's sentence for him in a somber tone that matched what Jun was definitely feeling.

"Yes. I don't want it to be this way, but…"

"There's no other way" Daemon remarked, again finishing Jun's sentence for him. He felt like suggesting that Jun could be the one to make the sacrifice but it wouldn't be fair to ask that of him and he knew it. But it didn't seem fair to leave one of the others to die either…

It was about then when Kat and Noble 6 made it up through an alternate entrance on the rear end of the facility. Jun and Daemon turned to them. Neither said anything. Everyone knew what was about to happen, what was about to be done. Someone would have to make the sacrifice. Kat moved forward. Noble 6 put his hand on her shoulder.

"Kat…stop. I'll do it."

"What?"

"I said I'll do it. I'll stay behind and activate the Mass Driver Cannon. Buy the Autumn the time it needs"

"But Six, you'll die."

"Yeah, and you'll die if you stay. I'm not letting that happen. Kat, please. Get out with Jun and the Jedi. Live to fight another day. That's all I want. Please, I…"

Noble 6 didn't finish his sentence. Instead he took his helmet off, and, almost instinctively, Kat took off hers. She couldn't really understand why, but she did, like it was instinct…The two moved closer, Noble 6 held Kat close and the two's lips touched. Soon, they were sharing a kiss. Then, as quickly as it came, the two's lips separated. It was less of a truly passionate kiss and more like a final good-bye. Noble 6 put his recon helmet back on, handed the AI package Halsey had given him to Kat, and then walked toward the Mass Driver Cannon.

"May the Force be with you SPARTAN" Daemon said.

Noble 6 nodded and stepped up to the seat of the Mass Driver Cannon. He got in, and readied the massive weapon. His timing was near-perfect, as a fleet of Covenant Phantoms and Banshees where already descending on the area, ready to menace the Pillar of Autumn, which had just landed. Noble 6 charged up the cannon, and let it fire. Any and every ship in its firing path was completely obliterated.

_For Jorge. _Noble Six thought. After firing, the cannon took three seconds to cool off and be ready to fire again. Noble 6 waited, and then fired again at the approaching Phantoms. And once again, everything in its path was completely destroyed.

_That was for Carter_

Meanwhile, Kat, Jun, and Daemon made their way to the gunship waiting for them.

"Get in quickly!" Nortom shouted. "There isn't much time left!"

The trio did as they were told and the gunship sped off, in the same direction as the _Pillar of Autumn_ and the _Glorious Savior_. As the gunship flew away, the three passengers took a long look back at the planet that was being glassed before them, knowing that there was still at least one soldier left that the Covenant and the Sith where still going to kill.

Meanwhile, Noble 6 knew what would happen once he completed this last mission. It was the end. For him and for Reach. But he had his consolations. For one, there was the knowledge that he had helped save as many as he could, including those central to the war effort, even if those in question where an AI and a pair of SPARTANS he'd known for only a month. Then there was the knowledge that humanity had just received new allies from another world, who Six was sure would help stop the Covenant once and for all. And finally, there was the knowledge that he would take out as many Covenant monsters as he could on this last hurrah. The Phantoms and Banshees started shooting at the cannon, damaging it. But they didn't damage it enough. Noble 6 fired it again, and no covenant vessels in the area survived.

_For Emile. _

Finally, the Covenant Cruiser came within range. Noble 6 waited for his cue, and then fired the Mass Driver Cannon one last time, aiming at the core. The Covenant cruiser's core sputtered and died, and before Noble 6 knew it, the ship exploded in a massive fireball.

_And that was for Reach. _

The Pillar of Autumn and numerous other human vessels flew away from Reach as the cruiser was destroyed, escaping the Covenant's grasp. Noble 6 breathed a sigh of relief. He'd done it. Humanity would fight on, and he was just one soldier.

What happened next came off as a blur. There were suddenly a lot of explosions. Noble 6 could see several large enemy vessels heading his way, too many for him to shoot down even with the Mass Driver Cannon. So he leaped out of the cannon and ran. A massive laser hit the building he was in, and the whole structure erupted in smoke. When the dust settled, Noble 6 lay motionless for what felt like so long. When he awoke, he found himself stranded and alone in a barren wasteland that had once been a paradise. Without a word, he left the ruins of the building he was in, and made his way to a ship's graveyard. Upon arriving, he saw that it was a graveyard for more then just ships: he saw the bodies of several SPARTANS, IIs, and IIIs. Noble 6 looked at the numbers of the SPARTAN IIs; 030, 039, 059…There were 13 SPARTANS all together. Well, they always had said it was an unlucky number…

Noble 6 turned. In flew several Phantoms, and Noble 6 prepared for his final fate. Sure enough, waves upon waves of Grunts led by Elites charged Noble 6. Noble 6 grabbed a DMR from one of the dead SPARTANS and let loose with it. If he was going down, he was going down fighting. He shot several grunts before the DMR ran out of ammo. He threw it to the ground, and shot another grunt with his pistol. Noble 6 ran, dodging Elite plasma fire as he opened up with his Assault rifle. Noble 6 managed to kill one Elite and grabbed his Plasma rifle, dual-wielding it with his pistol. He started shooting at the Elites, with the plasma rifle, then shooting them in the head with his pistol whenever one's energy shields went down. He was doing well, but he knew it wouldn't last. Sure enough, he felt an intense laser blast that him in the leg. Elite rangers were flying above. They began pestering Noble 6 with their focus rifles, and he was unable to take the time to shoot them down.

Noble 6 kept running, for all the good it would do him now. The Elites where closing in from all sides. Noble 6 fought hard, taking down as many Grunts and Elites as he could, but finally, seven, Reggad among them, ganged up on him. By now, Noble 6's helmet had taken so much damage, including a visor that was now badly cracked, that he threw it aside. One of the Elites, an Ultra, charged toward Noble 6, firing a plasma rifle. Noble 6 killed it with his assault rifle, having severely damaged its shields not that long ago. But as he was doing this, an Elite General snuck up from behind and brought its energy sword down on Noble 6. Noble 6 turned around just in time and struck the Elite with the butt-end of his rifle, causing it to reel back a bit. The Elite quickly recovered from this and made a lunging attack. Noble 6 dropped his assault rifle, took out his left shoulder knife and jammed it in the Elite's eye. With his other hand, he took out the kukri dagger in the sheath on his right shoulder and stabbed the Elite in the neck with it. The Elite thrashed violently, trying to shake the knives off, but Noble 6 kept them in, until he took out the kukri and plunged it again, this time in the back of the head, which finally brought the General down.

But then, as this happened, Noble 6 was shot several more times by the remaining five Elites. Noble 6 quickly put his kukri back in its shoulder sheath, dropped his other knife, and hurriedly picked up his assault rifle as well as re-drawing his pistol. He kept shooting, now in a desperate fashion, and managed to kill two more Elites before another Ultra tackled him to the ground, causing him to drop his guns. An Elite Zealot attempted to kill Noble 6 with his energy sword, but Six knocked the weapon out of its hands. The Ultra tried to pounce on him again, but Noble 6 elbowed it in the jaw. He then grabbed the Zealot's fallen energy sword and impaled the Ultra with it. Reggad charged with his own blade, slashing at Noble 6's armor and kicking him back to the ground. Noble 6 rolled as Reggad brought his sword to the ground, jamming his kukri into his sword arm only to be shot several more times by the Zealot. By now, Noble 6 could take no more and he fell to his knees. It hardly mattered. He knew it was over anyway. Reggad walked behind him and popped out a wrist-mounted "energy knife" a sort of little brother to the energy sword, and moved in to stab Noble 6 in the back. Noble 6 prepared for his final fate, desperately hoping that there was at least a Heaven he and Kat could be reunited in…

"Stop."

The two Elites turned. It was the Sith. Their leader walked up to the wounded SPARTAN and stared him down. Noble 6 looked at them with open contempt on his face. Drakot responded by slicing one of his hands off, just like that. Noble 6 smothered a scream and looked up. Drakot had his lightsaber raised…

Author's Note: Dear G-d, that was a long one wasn't it? Note that when I first wrote these first few chapters, I hadn't finished Halo: Reach, so I just took how I thought Carter and Emile would more or less die and made some…changes. As for the dead SPARTAN-IIs numbers, well, 030 and 039 are the numbers of the SPARTANS Vinh and Issac, two SPARTANS who went MIA and were presumed KIA on Reach. This is the fall of Reach, so…yeah. Please RR!


	8. Chapter 8: A Galaxy far, far, away

Chapter 8: A Galaxy Far, far, away…

The Supreme Chancellor was sitting in his chair, observing the magnificent view of the massive city Coruscant that was laid out in front of him. It was truly spectacular to be sure, but he had a gut fear that it may not be there to stay. Revan's Sith Empire was moving through planets at an alarming rate, Admiral Onasi still hadn't reported back and all contact with the _Glorious Savior_ had been lost. He sighed. He'd grown too old for this sort of thing, and now things looked to be at their bleakest. What was he to do now? It was about then when Jedi Master Vrook Lamar and a Republic General walked into the room.

"How are things going General Luane?" The Chancellor asked.

"Well I'm doing fine, but the situation out there isn't good. We've had to call several of our forces back or risk having them be completely decimated, and over a dozen planets or more have already been conquered. The way I see it, this is not a war we're going to be winning. I mean, there are only so many worlds now that we can adequately protect from their endless armadas and the Sith know it. Way I see it, it's only a matter of time before the Sith beat us."

"If you ask me," Vrook added "They've already won"

"What makes you say that?" The Chancellor asked "We're all still here after all."

Vrook sighed before saying: "With all due respect, Admiral Onasi's plan is a foolhardy one. Even if they can track down Bastila and, by some miracle, kill her, I doubt we will still have the firepower or the manpower to defeat the Sith Empire. The last attack on the Star Forge failed miserably and cost us our most powerful fleet. A second attack, even without Bastila aiding the Sith, I believe, will have similar results."

"It's the only way. According to Admiral Onasi, so long as the Star Forge remains a factor, Revan's armies will remain limitless. That means we have to destroy it. You and the Council had agreed to this plan as I recall"

"Perhaps, but having a limited army will not stop someone like Revan. He is a master strategist. Look at what he did to the Mandalorians. He didn't have the Star Forge then, and he'd only just begun to use the Dark Side. Now that he has both weapons on his side, our chances are slim to none."

"There has got to be something we can do. I refuse to let this Republic be torn asunder by a mad Sith Lord"

"Aside from the proposed plan of destroying the Star Forge" General Luane said "I believe we need to take out Revan. With their master gone, the Sith Empire will likely collapse."

"We already tried that," Vrook remarked, sounding greatly put out "And look what happened: Malak replaced him, killed millions, and then Revan returned and re-took his empire. Who's to say something like that won't happen again?"

"I don't think any others within the Sith Empire will be betraying Revan any time soon. If we kill him, that's that. The other high-ranking Sith Masters will turn on one another, each vying for control, and with any luck, the Sith Empire will tear itself apart."

"Ah," the Chancellor remarked "But how, pray tell, do you suggest we go about killing Revan? He is, after all, one of the most dangerous men in the galaxy."

"The most dangerous" Vrook muttered.

"We will find a way chancellor" General Luane assured him

"I hope so General" The Chancellor replied, "but after everything that has transpired…"

"Wait…." Vrook's voice cut him off. "Hold on…"

Vrook shut his eyes, concentrating, it seemed, but on what, the Chancellor and General Luane could not say.

"What is it master Vrook?" The chancellor asked

Vrook opened his eyes. "I sense a disturbance in the Force"

-X-

At last, the UNSC cruiser, _Pillar of Autumn_ came out of slipspace, and found itself staring down a huge planet that was the only thing present in the vast empty void of space. On board the ship, the captain, Jacob Keyes, surveyed said planet. It was a nice looking planet to be sure, one that looked an awful lot like Earth, but with a certain Smart AI talking to him at the moment it was a little hard to enjoy the view.

"All I want to know Cortana…" Keyes finally remarked "…Is did we lose them?"

Cortana's hologram appeared on a nearby pedestal. She resembled an attractive young woman in her mid-twenties, with short hair. Her hologram was now a dark purple in color, as opposed to the light pink it was in Dr. Halsey's underground lab.

"I think we both know the answer to that"

Captain Keyes didn't initially respond as he continued to look down on the planet below. Finally though, he asked:

"We made a blind jump. How did they…?"

Cortana cut him off "Get here first? The Covenant ships have always been faster, to say nothing for what these newcomer's ships seems to be capable of. As for tracking us all the way from Reach...at lightspeed…well my maneuvering options were limited."

Keyes fell silent once more, smoked his pipe a bit and began pacing around, stopping only to examine the viewscreens.

"We were running dark, yes?"

"Until we decelerated. No one could have missed the hole we tore in subspace."

Keyes took another look at the planet below. Finally, he turned back to Cortana:

"Radio the Republic vessel."

"Already done"

Keyes waited for about a second or two before hearing Admiral Onasi's voice:

"What is it Captain Keyes?"

"What exactly am I looking at Admiral?"

"The planet? That's Ithor. It's one of the last planets the Republic still controls. It's actually a little convenient that we've ended up here, I was hoping the Republic and the UNSC could get to know each-other a little better in the event we have to work together against the Sith and the Covenant.

"Thank you Admiral. I'll keep this channel open if I need to ask you anything else. Keyes out." He turned back to Cortana: "So, now that we're in _their_ galaxy, where do we stand?"

"Well, our fighters are mopping up the last of their recon picket now, but still nothing on those humans that where with them on Reach"

Keyes examined the main screen, continuing to smoke his pipe. As he did, he slowly shut his eyes, ever so weary from all that had happened recently. Finally, he took his pipe out and held it in his hand, as Cortana continued to talk:

"But I've isolated approach signatures from multiple CC-class battle groups, make it three capital ships per group. I'm also getting unknown signatures, probably those "Sith" that we saw on Reach. In about 90 seconds they'll be all over us."

At this, Keyes opened his eyes. "Well, that's it then. Bring the ship back up to Combat Alert Alpha. I want everyone at their stations."

"Everyone, sir?"

"Everyone"

At this, the alarm began to sound. Keyes radioed the Republic vessel once again: "Admiral Onasi, this is Jacob Keyes. The Sith and the Covenant are on their way here. I'd recommend you get your men ready for some action, cause they're about to see a lot of it."

"Copy that. We can't let them take Ithor. We've lost too many planets as it is."

"Copy that. I'm already working out a plan, I'll pass it to you soon. Keyes out."

Following this, Keyes turned back to Cortana:

"And Cortana..."

"Yes?"

"...let's give our old friends a warm welcome."

"I've already begun."

"Good. Now once things get too rough, I want us to break for any nearby planets. But only after we've done as much damage to the Sith and Covenant as possible. I don't want to be responsible for leading an invasion to that planet."

"Understood captain" At that, Cortana's avatar disappeared. Alarms sounded throughout the Autumn, and Marines were running all over the ship, arming themselves and getting into position. Cortana spoke over the intercom:

"Attention, all combat personnel: Please report to your action stations."

Marines continued to scramble and ready themselves; some were driving up in Warthogs, or loading onto Scorpion Tanks for combat. Others still kept checking their guns to make sure they were loaded, and a few more still found it more fun to just lollygag. Then Sergeant Johnson stepped in, and everyone snapped to it and stood at attention in a heartbeat.

Johnson was a tough, hardened, grizzled, no-nonsense marine in the UNSC, who had probably lasted longer than nearly any other non-SPARTAN soldier who had ever been in the war. Longer then some of them too in fact. He walked up and down the rows of marines, giving them a little bit of a speech as he went down the rows.

"Once again, it is our job to finish what the flyboys started. Once this firefight is concluded, we will be leaving this ship, platoon, and engaging the Covenant and their new "friends" on solid ground. When we meet the enemy, I don't care if it's the usual mess of split-chinned squid-headed sons-of-bitches, or some punks with fancy red swords. We will rip their skulls from their spines, and toss 'em away, laughin'!"

There was only silence. Johnson turned to face his men. "Am I right Marines!"

"Sir yes sir!" Was the unanimous response he received.

"Uh-huh. Damn right, I am. Now move it out! Double time!"

At this, the marines broke formation, and ran out of the hangar area, swarming through the halls ready to do battle against the Covenant. As they kept moving, Cortana's voice continued over the intercom:

"Attention, all personnel: We are re-engaging the enemy. Internal and external contact imminent."

As the Marines kept running, Sergeant Johnson calmly strode forward and shouted back to them:

"All you greenhorns who wanted to see Covenant up close...this is gonna be your lucky day."

Meanwhile, in another area of the Pillar of Autumn, a tech officer was operating the controls to a cryo-tube. In it, lied the _Pillar of Autumn's_ best chance, their ace-in-the hole: The Master Chief; SPARTAN-117, and one of the last SPARTAN IIs still alive following Reach. Inside the cryo-tube, the Master Chief lay still, dreaming the dream that always came to him when he entered Cryo Sleep…

He remembered being young again, six, to be precise. He remembered playing with his friends at school when a nice woman with blonde hair and glasses came and told him a bunch of hooey about a field trip or some such. Suffice to say, John had been just a little too trusting. To be fair, he _was_ six.

"We've chosen you John…" he remembered her telling him before being drugged and taken to a ship, and then waking up and being dragged to some series of bunk beds. He remembered what Dr. Halsey had said to him. Said to all of them…

"_You have been called upon to serve, you will be trained... and you will become the best we can make of you. You will be the protectors of Earth and all her colonies_…"

"Okay. Bringing low-level systems online. Cracking the case in thirty seconds." The Tech Officer operating the cryo tube announced. The Chief didn't hear of course. He just kept dreaming.

"…_This place will be your home…"_

After 25 seconds or so passed, the tech officer announced:

"Blowing the pins in five..."

"…_This place will be your tomb"_

The door to the Cryo-tube opened with a hiss. Master Chief slowly opened his eyes underneath his helmet as everything slowly came back into focus. He'd been woken up. That meant there was work to be done. Acting as if he had never even slept, Master Chief climbed out of the pod without a single hint of fatigue, despite having been sleeping while wearing so much armor. He was greeted by a 30-something Caucasian man in a yellow jumpsuit. After a few rudimentary tests to see if his armor systems were up to snuff, Captain Keyes radioed in:

"Bridge to Cryo 2, this is Captain Keyes. Send the Master Chief to the bridge immediately."

"Captain, we'll have to skip the weapons diagnostics and I-"

Keyes cut him off, sounding mildly irritated "On the double, crewman."

"Aye aye, sir." The tech officer turned to the Chief. _"_The skipper seems jumpy, we'd better get moving. We'll find you weapons later."He looked up at the Tech officer in the observation area.

"You'd better get to your evac group, Sam!"

"Affirmative." Sam replied. "Just have to reset the computer and I'm outta here!"

Butas Sam said this, banging could be heard_._ And it was steadily getting louder and louder.

"Oh God! They're trying to get through the door!"

Suddenly, a red blade popped out of the door. It slowly began to work its way around the door, leaving a burnt, molten rim where it had cut. Finally, the red blade disappeared, and the door was blasted forward, ramming right into Sam and killing him instantly.

"Sam! Sam!" The tech officer shouted before turning back to the Chief _"_ C'mon, we've got to get the hell out of here!"

The Tech Officer took off down the halls as the Master Chief followed right behind. But as the Tech Officer moved to open a nearby door, a massive explosion tore through, blowing the tech officer away. The Master Chief swerved around and took a different route. As he did, he could hear marines and Pillar of Autumn security forces engaged in a shootout with Covenant aliens. He could hear the hiss of plasma blasts and the dying screams of marines.

He'd heard those screams too many times.

-X-

Carth ordered his men to be on high alert, ready for anything the Sith or the Covenant would throw at them. Down in the engine deck area, Nortom was loading rockets into his massive anti-personnel cannon as several other Republic soldiers lined up in the halls, bracing themselves for the Sith boarding parties. Snipers waited in the shadows, hidden in nooks and crannies as their leader gave out orders:

"Aim for the head, and DON'T go after the ones with sabers. They'll know what you're up to before you can fire a shot. Sith Troopers and Heavies are the top priority."

Up front, the squad leader was also giving out orders:

"All right, everyone check your positions! Make sure the mines are set up just as we planned. I want you all at a safe distance when they go off!"

"Sir yes sir!" The soldiers responded. It was about then when a boarding tube attached to the ship from a nearby Sith Vessel. Mere seconds later, the massive doors to the Engine Deck where blasted down and in came a pack of Sith Assault Droids.

"TAKE THEM DOWN NOW!" The squad leader ordered.

Nortom acknowledged this and hefted his massive heavy weapon. A rocket flew out of it and caused a blinding flash as the droids erupted in smoke and scrap metal. But alas, three Sith Acolytes followed right behind, lightsabers drawn. The engine deck area erupted in an insane flurry of laser blasts as the soldiers desperately tried to take down the three Sith Acolytes who were already tearing their unit apart. Sith Troopers swarmed into the engine deck next, opening fire on the Republic soldiers right behind the Sith Acolytes. The Acolytes themselves continued to advance, deflecting any and all shots the Republic soldiers fired at them. Seeing this, the squad-leader decided to improvise: he took out a small cylindrical grenade, and hurled it. One of the Sith Acolytes stopped it with the force. The squad-leader had seen that coming, so he improvised as planned. He shot the grenade as it was hovering in mid-air. The resulting blast blew off the Sith Acolyte's arm. The squad leader finished him with a headshot and then whipped around and gave the order to activate the mines. The resulting blast killed the Sith Acolyte and some Sith Troopers and disoriented the others.

"FIRE NOW!" The squad leader ordered. The soldiers did as they were told and fired into the cloud of smoke before the last Sith Acolyte dispersed it with the force. The Acolyte deflected the next volley of blaster-fire, cutting down two more Republic Soldiers. Meanwhile, Kat and Jun ran into the area and where met by the sniper leader.

"What is the situation soldier?" Kat demanded

"It's Sergeant ma'am, and the "situation" is that the Sith boarding parties are ripping the security forces apart. I've lost a few of my boys as well. In short; things are not good. I was hoping you two "SPARTANS" could keep it from getting any worse"

"Understood. Consider those Sith gone" Jun replied. He moved to his own spot and took aim at the Sith Acolyte. He waited until he was busy eviscerating another Republic Soldier before firing his shot. The Sith Acolyte sensed it coming and moved out of the way, but this left him open to a Republic Soldier, who tackled the Sith Acolyte. The acolyte impaled him upon his lightsaber, but not before the soldier shot him at point-blank range with his blaster.

Up top, Jun fired once more, his bullet shooting a Sith Trooper right in the head. Several other Sith Troopers realized that there was a newcomer to the fight, and turned back to where the snipers where, only to be met with a barrage of fire from Jun and the other snipers that forced them back. Kat managed to get in a headshot with her pistol as well.

Another wave of Sith Troopers came rushing on to the scene through the boarding tube, and opened fire, killing two more soldiers and damaging Kat's energy shields. Kat retaliated with pistol fire as well as grenades, and Nortom let loose with his antipersonnel weapon once more, which took down the last of the Sith Troopers. When the dust settled, Jun and Kat walked up to the Squad leader and what was left of his group.

"Hey there. You two the SPARTANS I've heard so much about?"

"Yes. I'm Lieutenant Commander Kat B-320, Noble Two. My friend here is Warrant Officer Jun A-266, Noble Three."

"Two and Three eh? What about One?"

Kat lowered her head a bit, in sad remembrance of her fallen commander and the rest of Noble Team. Jun, seeing this, spoke for her:

"He didn't make it. Neither did 4, 5, or 6. We are all that's left of Noble Team."

"Oh…I'm sorry to hear that."

"Yeah…" Jun sighed "…So am I."

Alarms broke the silence. The SPARTANS and Republic Soldiers knew that more Sith where on their way in. Jun reloaded his sniper rifle and Kat her pistol. They then moved behind cover with the remaining Republic soldiers.

"As soon as they come through" the squad leader hollered out "LET EM' HAVE IT!"

Back on the _Pillar of Autumn_, the Master Chief made his way out of the mess hall turned battlefield and into the next corridor. It had been his first fight since being "woken up". Now, with Cortana on a chip in the back of his helmet and an Assault Rifle in his hands, the chief was ready for whatever Covenant came his way. He was also interested to see what these "Sith" he had heard about where capable of.

The Chief made his way down another corridor, alongside some marines. The group was met with plasma fire from Grunts and Elites. The Chief opened fire on the Elite's energy shields with his assault rifle until they finally gave way. The angered Elite shot at him with his plasma rifle, chipping away at the Chief's shields. The Other Elite shot at him as well, dispersing his shields before the marines drove it back with covering fire and the Chief shot the other Elite in the head with his pistol.

"Keep your head down! There's two of us in here now remember?" Cortana's voice rang in his head.

Master Chief didn't bother to respond to that. He merely kept moving, taking out the last pair of grunts as he went. He went through the next hallway and down another corridor, the all-too familiar sounds of war ringing in his ears. Finally, The Chief and a few marines came to a hallway lined with escape pods. As they moved in, an explosion tore through the area, killing two nearby marines who'd been standing guard. Out stepped another Elite, this one a major, backed up by human soldiers in black and silver armor.

"Those are Sith Troopers Chief. Be careful, they're weapons are worse than Plasma."

Again, Master Chief said nothing. He backpedaled, shooting at the Sith Troopers with his assault rifle as they in turn opened fire with their blaster rifles. One of the shots hit a marine and killed him instantly. Cortana hadn't been kidding when she said their weapons where worse than plasma. The Chief reasoned that it was better to play it safe. He drew his pistol and opened fire at the Sith Troopers, aiming for the head. He managed to take two down, but kind of forgot about the Elite, who, after killing the remaining marines, turned its attention to him. The massive alien lumbered towards him, opening fire with its plasma rifle. Thinking quickly, Master Chief grabbed and hurled a discarded plasma grenade. The grenade stuck itself to the Elite's head and the creature was blown away a second later. Taking advantage of the distraction caused by the explosion, the Chief opened fire on the remaining Sith Troopers. When the dust settled, he was the only one left standing, amid many bodies and a mess of red and purple blood.

"I do know how to pick 'em…" Cortana whispered.

Master Chief continued on, now alone save for Cortana. But after moving forward a little more, the _Autumn_ began to shake violently and Master Chief stopped in his tracks.

"I don't like the sound of that…"

"Neither do I" Cortana replied. "It's the _Autumn_. She's being hit hard. The Sith _and_ Covenant vessel's combined firepower is too much for one ship. I hope the captain decides to make us retreat and fast. Otherwise, there may not be an _Autumn_ left."

There was an awkward silence between the two as Master Chief kept moving, making his way through shoot-out after shoot-out. Then, after another clash with Sith and Elites, the _Autumn_ shook violently again. Back on the bridge, Captain Keyes radioed Admiral Onasi:

"Admiral Onasi this is Captain Keyes. What is your status?"

Keyes heard static before Admiral Onasi responded:

"We're hanging in. Your SPARTANS where definitely worth the money. How about you?"

"The Pillar of Autumn can't take much more punishment. I'm going to have to evacuate ASAP, or the Autumn will be lost. Can you recommend a planet to retreat to?"

"Mygeeto. It's a mostly isolated colony. I'll upload the coordinates to you. We'll cover your escape, before making our own to Muunihilist. Just give us time to clear the decks first."

"You'd better hurry Admiral. I don't have much time. Captain Keyes out."

And so, the two ships continued their respective battles, desperately attempting to halt the boarding parties swarming over their vessels. Then a Covenant ship landed another blow on the _Pillar of Autumn_. The vehicle began to lose pieces of armor. Keyes decided that he couldn't wait for Admiral Onasi any longer and directed the Pillar of Autumn to "Mygeeto". A slipspace hole opened, and the Pillar of Autumn went through, hoping the hole would close before the Covenant could pursue. The orbiting Covenant vessels did engage in pursuit, however, but fire from the _Glorious Savior _provided a distraction allowing the _Autumn_ to escape un-pursued.

Now coming under attack from all sides, the _Glorious Savior_ directed its own hyperspace coordinates for Muunihilist. And, just as the vehicle began to look like it was doomed to an explosive end, it vanished into hyperspace. The Covenant vessels were left confused as to what just transpired, their prey it seemed, having vanished in thin air. It wasn't long however, before they were contacted by the Sith:

"Supreme Commander, this is Drakot. Our Lord and master is…requesting our return to Lehon, to…discuss our alliance with you. You're welcome to try and pursue our enemies, but I have profound doubts that you will be able to locate them without any way of tracking their hyperspace route. I would recommend we save our enemies annihilation for another day."

The Supreme Commander replied venomously: "I do not take orders from human vermin! But if it is further negotiations your "master" wants…then I will…call back the fleet…for now."

And with that, the Sith Vessel _The Minotaur _and its new Covenant allies disappeared into hyperspace and slipspace as well.

Author's Notes: Sheesh, these chapters just get longer and longer don't they? Ah well. What General Luane said to the Chancellor about finding a way or making one is actually a quote from Hannibal (Not Hannibal King, the historic Hannibal). Sergeant Johnson's speech is the one he gives at the beginning of Halo: CE on if you play on Normal, but with a few changes made. Just some fun-facts there. Please RR!


	9. Chapter 9: Many Meetings

Chapter 9: Many Meetings

Chapter 9: Many Meetings

By the time _The Pillar of Autumn _had reached Mygeeto, the _Glorious Savior _had already gotten there from Muunihilist. The _Autumn_ touched down, and Keyes met up with Admiral Carth Onasi. The two discussed the current situation regarding the Sith, the Covenant, Revan, and everything else. All the while the ship's two crews just stood idly by on their respective vessels, weapons at the ready at all times in the event the Sith or the Covenant found them on the snowy world. Master Chief had taken to talking to Cortana to pass the time.

"What do you suppose the captain and the Republic Admiral are talking about?"

"A lot of different things if I had to guess. Don't worry Chief, I'm sure you'll get in a lot more shooting before all is said and done."

"That wasn't what I meant" Master Chief said.

"Really? Well if you want to know about how dire the current situation is, I'd say pretty damn bad. We still need to find that "game changer" Dr. Halsey mentioned, or the human race is done for."

There was only awkward silence between the two after that as nearby, UNSC Sergeant Stacker continued to praise his fireteam on a job well done.

"Damn, you monkeys almost looked like soldiers back there!"

Meanwhile, Carth Onasi returned to the bridge of the _Glorious Savior _and contacted the Supreme Chancellor

"Admiral Onasi, is that you? Where are you? What news is there of Bastila and Revan?"

"None Chancellor, but I've got something else you will definitely want to hear: while making a jump through lightspeed, our hyperdrive was sabotaged, and we ended up in an area of uncharted space. While there, we came upon a world occupied by a human government that has _**never**_ heard of the Republic, the Jedi, the Sith, or anyone else. They've been completely isolated from the rest of the galaxy, at war with an alliance of alien races known as "The Covenant" for almost thirty years. We helped the evacuation of this planet right before the Covenant laid waste to it, and now we have one of their vessels with us. And to top it all off, the Sith have found the Covenant and have united with them."

There was a long, awkward silence following this. Truth be told, the Chancellor wasn't quite sure he was hearing Admiral Onasi clearly. But the look on Carth's face and the urgency in his voice told the Chancellor he was dead serious. Finally, the Chancellor had to accept that his old ears were not deceiving him either. He asked: "So…this "human government"…one of their vessels is allied with us now?"

"Yes Chancellor. And with all due respect, we need their help. The Sith have just gotten a small fleet of Covenant vessels on their side, and things where bad before, so their assistance is a must."

The Chancellor sighed. "All right Admiral, I'll take your word for it. I'm not entirely sure how any of this makes any sense whatsoever, but we certainly need allies, so you have my approval. But just to be safe, I think I'll keep this quiet for now. I don't want to cause a panic about "visitors from another universe"

"All right Chancellor. We'll continue our search for Bastila soon. Admiral Onasi out."

Carth ended the transmission and exited the bridge. Captain Keyes was waiting for him outside with a mildly impatient look on his face.

"Well?" Keyes asked

"The Chancellor has given me his approval to continue our alliance and to put it plainly, we still need your help. Before ending up in your galaxy, we where tracking down a woman named Bastila. She's vital to the Sith's offensive and taking her out is imperative if our big plan of attack against the Sith has any chance of being successful. Killing her is the first step to victory."

"All right then. We'll aid you on your little hunt. But in exchange, you have to do something for us: I've been told this "Star Forge" the Sith have creates endless fleets. The UNSC could really use that technology to turn the tide against the Covenant…"

"NO way. That thing is an artifact of the Dark Side, it _**has**_ to be destroyed."

"But it could be our only chance!" Keyes shouted, losing his usual unflappable manner for a brief moment. "We _**need**_ something to turn the tide against the Covenant! This could be it! You can't take this gamechanger from us! Not now! Not when they've murdered billions of us!"

There was a grim silence. Rarely had Captain Keyes lost his temper or allowed any anger he felt at the Covenant to rise, but this was the straw that broke the camel's back. Finally, Carth said: "How about we cross that bridge when we come to it?"

Keyes looked at Carth hard, but the Republic Admiral stood his ground. Finally, Keyes said darkly: "This conversation isn't over Admiral" before walking off. Carth sighed deeply to himself and put his palm to his face. His silence was interrupted when Captain Keyes suddenly came back to him. Carth looked up at him.

"What is it?"

"My ship's AI just found something interesting that you might want to see"

-X-

The Master Chief stood facing the assembled group of Carth, Captain Keyes, Jun, Kat, and Daemon as Cortana spoke through him:

"I've been getting an unknown signature from a planet somewhere in this galaxy. Its a bit hard to read, since it's from light-years away, but I think it's a SPARTAN distress call. If that's the case, there are other SPARTANS in this galaxy and they're calling for help"

"That's impossible" Keyes said "Where is this signature coming from?"

"A planet out in what people here call "The Outer Rim" It's from…what is Yavin?"

"Yavin IV" Daemon clarified. "It's a jungle moon orbiting a large gas giant. The actual gas giant is uninhabitable, so the moon is probably where that signal is coming from" Daemon said.

"Do you think we should check it out?" Jun asked. "If there are other SPARTANS—"

"I don't know for sure if there are other SPARTANS…" Cortana admitted "…But I'm saying there _might_ be."

"Good enough for me" Master Chief said, finally speaking himself. He turned to Captain Keyes. "Sir, permission to take my fellow SPARTANS and go search the distress call?"

"It's on the other side of this galaxy Chief. You'd need a ship capable of lightspeed travel and we can't spare one of the big ships for what could easily turn into a wild goose chase…"

"Actually," Daemon said "I happen to have a vessel docked in the _Glorious Savior_ that posses a hyperdrive. And it can also seat four passengers. Five in a pinch."

"Well…" Keyes said "…I'm still not sure. You're the UNSC's best soldiers. I don't want to lose you on this, goose chase or not..."

"SPARTANS never die sir. They are just—"

"Missing in action" Keyes finished his sentence for him. "We both know better than that son. But, while it's against my better judgment, I don't see how I'm going to change your mind, so permission granted."

"Thank you sir"

Master Chief turned to Kat and Jun and beckoned them to follow. The two followed him and Daemon into the _Glorious Savior's_ hangar bay, and Daemon led them onto his personal vessel, the _Silent Star; _a medium-sized silver-gray vessel that was far more spacious then it looked. Daemon flew the ship out of the _Glorious Salvation_, and off they went.

They were going to find their fellow SPARTANS, or whatever it was that made that signal...

On Lehon, the Elite Supreme Commander and Drakot arrived at the Rakatan temple turned Sith Stronghold, walking inside past the Sith Acolyte Guards. They navigated the labyrinthine structure and made their way to a room guarded by a tall, lanky dark orange assassin droid. The droid eyed the pair with blood red photoreceptors. If it had any shock or surprise at seeing the Elite, it didn't say. Instead, it merely remarked: "Statement: Lord Revan is currently in meditation. He does not wish to be disturbed."

The droid continued, brandishing it's blaster: "Unnecessary threat: He also gave me explicit orders to fry any meat-bags who would persist in disturbing him. And if my photoreceptors are working adequately, which they undoubtedly are, you two meatbags qualify"

The supreme commander was about ready to draw his energy sword and cleave the droid in two when a voice rang out:

"It's all right HK. Let them in."

"Statement: As you desire master. Unlocking doors now."

And with that, the doors opened. Drakot and the supreme commander walked in. Revan was sitting in a lotus position, his cape draped on the ground and his back to the pair. He spoke without turning around to face them: "Your new ally is a strange-looking creature Drakot. Who is he?"

The supreme commander spoke up before Drakot had a chance to:

"I am Supreme Commander Thel 'Vadamee of the glorious Covenant. I have chosen to ally myself with your "Sith Empire" in the hopes of annihilating the accursed humans who threaten my Covenant's Great Journey."

Revan said nothing. He merely remained in his lotus position, his back still to the duo. Thel was beginning to grow impatient but a part of him felt deep down that it would be extremely unwise to try anything. Finally, Revan added:

"Well, I believe that the agreement Drakot made with you can still stand. You will help us destroy the Republic and the Jedi, and in return, we will help you destroy your enemies. Sound fair?"

The Supreme Commander hesitated before giving his answer: "Very well. But once our business is concluded, we are never to encounter each-other again."

"Fair enough. Now go. I wish to return to my meditation. Do not disturb me again, or I will unleash HK-47 on you."

Drakot bowed to his master and left with Thel. As they did, Thel saw that the Assassin Droid was still staring blankly at them, rifle still at the ready, as if it really, truly wanted to shoot them, or something, no matter what.

Thel felt that if that droid had a mouth, it would be grinning.

Author's Note: This was pretty short chapter. I won't deny, it's meant to be filler, but I think I did a good job keeping it interesting all the same. And no, HK-47 will probably not be in my story. I say this because if he is, I want to make sure I nail his voice perfectly because I love the character, and I'm not so sure that I can nail his voice. I may try though. Please RR!


	10. Chapter 10: Corruption

Chapter 10: Corruption

Noble 6 opened his eyes and found himself greeted by a vast, never-ending desert. A desert? Glassed planets weren't deserts…where was he? What happened to Reach? Why hadn't the Sith and the Elites killed him? Noble 6 surveyed the area. Just dunes and an ocean of sand as far as the eye could see. The sky was clear blue, not a cloud to be seen. And yet strangely, it wasn't very hot, just warm. A nice, pleasant kind of warm…was he in Heaven? He never thought heaven would be a desert…

"Hey there Six." A familiar-sounding voice said. Noble 6 turned around. He couldn't believe his eyes and ears. Emile; his late teammate, was standing right in front of him. Perhaps he was in Heaven after all…or Hell.

"I take it you showed those Covvie bastards what for huh?" Emile asked in a rather cheerful tone that seemed uncharacteristic of him.

Noble 6 rubbed his eyes and then opened them again. He wasn't seeing things. Emile was still standing there, right in front of him. As it was, Emile didn't seem terribly surprised to see him without his helmet on, even though the only two members of the team Six had ever let see his face where Kat and Jun.

"Emile? I thought…Jun said you'd been killed…"

"Hey don't you know? SPARTANS never die Six! We're just missing in action! And now _we're_ missing in action!"

Emile sounded overly cheerful, which, especially since it was Emile, was not a good sign. Despite that, Six decided that it may be best to play along for now and hope for the best. If he and Emile where "alive" he wanted to know if the other members of Noble Team where to.

"So…does that mean…Jorge is alive too?"

Emile shrugged. "Don't know." Emile chuckled to himself a bit. "Big man always was sentimental…."

"Uh…OK, well you're here, so where is Carter?"

"He's DEAD!" Emile exclaimed in a disturbingly loud and almost light-hearted fashion that was completely inappropriate for the statement.

"But didn't you just tell me SPARTANS never di—"

"He's Dead" Emile repeated flatly. Noble 6 was beginning to feel a little uneasy. Emile had never exactly been a nice guy, but his attitude here seemed rather demented, even by his standards. Noble 6 decided to just drop it. He noticed that the sky had started to darken rapidly, the clear blue now an overcast gray. Still, he asked Emile about the next Noble Team member…

"Uh…Jun is still alive right?"

Emile nodded. "Yep. He survived. Proved that it pays to fight from a distance!"

Now Noble 6 was feeling a little less uneasy, but the sky was getting darker still. And there was one last member of the team unaccounted for. And she meant the most to him.

"And Kat?"

Emile looked directly at him. Even though his skull-faced helmet completely obscured his face, Noble 6 could almost tell that Emile was smiling underneath. Finally he said: "Oh, she's fine Six. You don't have to worry about her…" his tone sounded almost sinister. "…you never did really"

"Excuse me?"

Suddenly, Emile changed his tone drastically, becoming much more hostile:

"I mean what is it with you? Don't you know SPARTANS aren't supposed to fall in love! G-d! You make want to puke!"

"Emile, what the hell—"

Lightning flashed. The sky was now pitch dark, as if the sun had been swallowed whole by the storm clouds. Emile drew his kukri dagger from his shoulder sheath. He moved towards Noble 6.

"Trust me: payback's a bitch."

And within mere seconds, Emile was on top of Noble 6, stabbing him repeatedly with his dagger, which went through his red armor with illogical ease. Noble 6 had no weapon to defend himself, not one. Even his own knives where missing, and so Emile continued to stab him but Six didn't die. Finally, he grabbed Emile's hand as he was about to make another stab and started punching him as hard and fast as he could with his other hand, eventually making a crack in Emile's helmet before grabbing it and pulling it off. But when he did…Noble 6 was horrified by what he saw: Emile's face underneath his helmet was a real, true skull.

Lightning flashed again. Emile laughed. Noble 6 punched him hard in the face, dislocating his jaw. Emile merely fixed it back in place

"Happy frickin Halloween Six!" Emile shouted before jamming his kukri into Noble 6's heart…

Noble 6 woke up in a cold sweat and began panting non-stop. So he was alive after all. He looked at the room he was in and saw his reflection. For a moment, he thought, he could of sworn his eyes where yellow, but once he blinked and looked again, they where their usual gray…

Noble 6 surveyed the room he was in. It was a drab, gray cell that was dimly lit, and attached to the wall was a slab that was apparently for sleeping on. Six had been on the floor when he'd woken up, implying they hadn't even bothered to put him on the slab when they threw him in here. He looked down. His armor was off, now replaced with black robes, gloves, boots, and a tunic. The hand that had been cut off by the Sith on Reach had been replaced…with another hand. It did not look robotic, like Kat's arm, but looked exactly like a normal hand. But it _felt_ robotic…

The door opened, getting Noble 6's attention. It was a man in black robes with a hooded cape and a bronze mask and breastplate.

"Who are you?"

"You will call me Lord Revan. I understand that forces under my command chose to spare you…mercy is not a trait of the Sith, so I assume Drakot had his reasons…what where they I wonder?" There was a moment of silence. "Ah, yes….yes that's it…"

Revan smiled underneath his mask. Noble 6 continued to be confused as to what was going on. Finally, Revan spoke up again, authority ever-present in his voice, despite the fact that Six guessed that he couldn't be much older than him from the small amount of youth that was still in his voice…

"You will be trained. Do not ask questions, or you'll find yourself regretting it. I will return tomorrow and you will see what I have in store for you…"

And with that, Revan left without another word, closing the door behind him, leaving Noble 6 alone again, wondering what exactly had just happened. The next day, Revan returned as promised, and beckoned Noble 6 to follow him. Though it was against his better judgment, Six found himself obeying without question…The two walked to a spacious room with stone walls and ceiling, and in the center there was a large mat laid out. On the mat were several rocks of various shapes and sizes. Revan turned to face Noble Six.

"I am going to be blunt with you "SPARTAN": you are force-sensitive. Though you do not know it, the Force touches you in a way it does not touch your friends. Due to being isolated from anyone else who possesses this sensitivity, you could never tap into your full power, your full potential…until now. Drakot sensed that spark of the force within you, which is why he chose to let you live. Under my guidance, you will turn that spark into a raging inferno that will help incinerate the Jedi Order…but, one must learn to walk before they learn to run. So I will be training you."

Noble Six didn't say a word. He was having a hard time taking all of this in. _He_ was force-sensitive? Like the Jedi Daemon? Like the Sith on Reach? Well, that would explain some things…his natural talent for survival, the way he fought, like no other SPARTAN-III who ever lived…but was it really because of the Force? Six had always chalked it up to fate and dumb luck, and also possibly divine intervention. But maybe that _was_ the Force…

"Now" Revan said, continuing "To use the force, you must first reach out, calm your mind, clear your thoughts, and focus only on the Force itself as you attempt to use it."

Noble Six didn't do anything. He was still trying to grasp all of this insanity. And if he was force-sensitive, there was no way he would work for the Sith. Revan, as if he could sense what Noble Six was thinking, outstretched a hand, his voice growing extremely venomous.

"Do as I say…or you _**will**_ suffer…."

Noble Six found his will and energy being drained from him. He fell to his knees and began panting heavily.

"Now do as I told you and concentrate!"

Noble Six attempted to empty his mind, and listen for the Force, though he wasn't entirely sure how he would do that. But then, as his mind finally quieted down (it took him a little while, as he wasn't used to calming his mind so) he heard it. He actually _heard_ it. Speaking to him, in two different voices. Both of the voices where calm sounding, serene and graceful. But one whispered promises. Promises of power, promises of anything and everything he could possibly desire, all with very little effort on his part. Then he heard Revan's voice in his head:

_Good. You are already learning, it seems. The voice that makes promises is the voice of the Dark Side. I can assure you that it makes good on those promises, but only if you have the strength to take what you deserve, and know how to harness the Dark Side and use it as a weapon. Now, with your mind emptied and calm, focus on the rocks, and try to levitate one._

Noble 6, attempting to keep his mind as clear as possible, outstretched a hand, and concentrated on the rock. Nothing happened. Noble Six tried again, this time attempting to _feel_ the rock, even though he couldn't touch it. Feel it's cold, hard, surface. And then, amazingly, the rock began to move. Unfortunately, just as it was beginning to levitate, Noble Six lost control and it fell down again. Revan merely stood and watched.

"Again" he said nonchalantly

Noble Six tried again. The rock fell again. He already knew what Revan would say, so he tried again. Finally, the rock levitated more before falling again.

"Good." Revan said plainly. "You're progressing already."

But as things continued over the next few days, Noble 6's progress deteriorated considerably. He was having difficulty strengthening his connection to the Force, and Revan was anything but a gentle teacher. As the days turned into agonizing weeks, Noble 6 was put through more and more harsh training to hone his connection to the force. Such "training" often consisted of doing battle against vicious creatures such as Tukata and Nexu; running through brutal obstacle courses, and enduring other brutality that made even what he was forced to endure in the SPARTAN-Training program pale in comparison. All the while, Darth Revan stood over him, instructing him, berating him, and, occasionally, torturing him, all in the hopes of getting him to fully embrace the power of the Dark Side. Noble 6 tried again and again to use the force to levitate objects and push them, to pull things towards him, to wield the lightsaber he was given with some measure of competence, but it was just no use. He was sloppy and pathetic, and he knew it. Revan did too, his bronze mask frequently hiding looks of disgust.

"You have no technique. You are sloppy, uncoordinated. You telegraph your blows light-years ahead of executing them..."

Noble 6 eventually lost patience with being lectured, berated, and abused and one day lashed out violently with his lightsaber. Darth Revan saw it coming and sliced Noble 6's lightsaber in two…and took his hand off as well. Noble 6 had now lost that hand eight times. Whenever he greatly displeased Darth Revan, the Sith Master would take off the prosthetic hand that replaced the one Noble 6 had lost on Reach. And so he had to constantly get a new one attached. It was a truly torturous experience, but Revan did not care. As far as he was concerned, until his apprentice learned how to be a true Sith adept, he did not deserve his hand. Revan stood over Noble 6.

"Strengthen your connection to the force" Revan commanded with great irritation in his voice "Feel the power of the Dark Side as it courses through you. Remember your anger. Your anger at the countless atrocities the Covenant have inflicted against your people. Remember what they did to your fellow SPARTANS..."

Noble 6 struggled with these words and the innate Dark Side power bubbling up inside of him as Revan continued. "Remember their names…Samuel."

Samuel…The first SPARTAN who took down a whole Covenant capital ship by boarding it, and he did it almost single-handedly. He had made the ultimate sacrifice…according to Jorge, the other SPARTAN-IIs considered him a martyr afterwards…

"The SPARTANS on Pegasi…"

Pegasi Delta. A true hell-hole if there ever was one. ONI estimated the death toll was around 297 of the 300 that were sent, with Noble 6 as one of the only three SPARTANS who had survived that nightmarish siege…

"Your squad that you lost…Frank, Sheila, Felix…"

How the hell did he know all their names?

"Jorge…."

Jorge….Noble 6 wondered what happened to him after he detonated that slipspace bomb. Was he really dead? Or was he still out there somewhere? He didn't know. And he wasn't sure he cared anymore…

"Carter and Emile…"

Noble 6 remembered hearing that his friends in Noble Team had died from Jun. He still didn't know exactly how they had been killed…

"Kat"

Kat…No, Noble 6 thought. She'd gotten out with Jun, he was sure of it. He saw it. He knew she was still alive…he was sure…then he saw her…her body, on the floor, lying in a pool of blood at Revan's feet. But that couldn't be…

"No…"

Noble 6 screamed in agony

"NOOOOO!"

As Noble 6 vented his fury and denial, the whole room, it seemed, began to fall apart. Objects where shattered, nearby droids smashed to pieces, a great powerful gale swept through the entire room. Darth Revan smiled underneath his grim, faceless mask. Finally, progress was being made. He walked over. Noble 6 looked up at him, his once gray eyes now transitioning to a yellowish color. This pleased Revan even more.

"Excellent work. In time you may actually make a fine Sith Apprentice. Now, build yourself a new lightsaber. You do that, and then, you get a new prosthetic. Until then, you remain without a hand. You will be confined to your room with the necessary materials until you are done."

"Yes…master"


	11. Chapter 11: An army of six

Chapter 11: An Army of Six

_The Silent Star _at last came out of lightspeed and was greeted by a massive orange gas giant of a planet. Flying past that, the ship's crew of four saw a moon that was covered in oceans and green land masses, definitely looking like it could support life. The SPARTANS inside knew they'd found their moon. And sure enough, Daemon confirmed it.

"That, is Yavin IV."

Master Chief nodded. "Cortana, can you get a better reading of those signals now?"

"Sure can Chief" Cortana said. She paused for a moment, trying to read the transmission again now that she was much closer, and this time it came out much more clearly, where before it had been barely decipherable.

"Chief. It's definitely SPARTANS. They're in a ruined temple on the surface. I'm also getting chatter between Sith military forces. They're closing in on them. We need to hurry or they won't make it."

Master Chief turned to Daemon. The Jedi nodded. "I'll try and land us on the planet as discreetly as I can. With any luck we won't have to engage in any pointless dogfights" And with that, he directed the _Silent Star _past the Sith vessels that were indeed in orbit above the planet and made his way around to the other side. As the ship landed, the crew was greeted with lush green forests, ruined temples, and a light drizzle. Master Chief turned to Jun and Kat:

"All right, this is a big place, so everyone stick together. Cortana, can you isolate the SPARTAN's distress signal?"

"Already done. The temple is… 150 clicks north of what's going to be our LZ."

"**150**! Well, we tried our best, time to pack u—"

Master Chief cut Jun off. "We'll make it."

"Uh, in case you didn't notice, we don't have any warthogs or mongooses. We'll never get there in time"

Master Chief turned to Daemon. "Can you fly us directly to the temple?"

"I could, but we'd run the risk of being spotted by the Sith and shot down."

"I'll take that risk. SPARTANS, we're flying in low, and then we're going to move in as quickly and efficiently as possible, and meet up with the SPARTANS under fire. Understood?"

"Aye Chief" Jun said.

"Understood" Kat added.

And so, the ship descended a little more and bean to fly low to the ground, and living up to its name. Its appearance frightened several smaller creatures out of the way as it kept moving, temporarily flying high into the air again to bypass Sith Troopers running to the same sight unnoticed. Finally, the ship reached a clearing, and it touched down. In the distance was a massive temple, and surrounding it where scores of Sith Troopers, along with a ton of bodies. There was definitely a battle going on, and shots and sniper rifle fire could now be heard. Daemon and the SPARTANS clambered out of the ship, now hidden safely behind the dense jungle growth and moved out. Kat took command and gave out orders:

"Jun, look sharp, don't fire until I give the order."

"Understood."

"Chief, you move in first, I'll follow right behind"

"Understood ma'am."

And with that, the group moved out, with the Master Chief taking point. Careful not to let the Sith Troopers spot him too soon, Master Chief moved slowly and quietly. Seeing a distracted Sith Trooper that had become separated from the rest of his men, the Chief silently walked up behind him and broke his neck with his bare hands. Master Chief then gave the signal, and Jun fired off a few shots, causing several more Sith Troopers to whip around in confusion. Due to the color of Jun's armor, they couldn't see him right away, but they could see Kat and Daemon, who immediately went after several of them. Others still where cut down by the SPARTANS above.

As a mass shoot-out ensued, Master Chief ran into the thick of things to help out Kat and Daemon, jamming his Assault rifle into one trooper's gut and letting Kat do the rest. Daemon meanwhile, was cutting down trooper after trooper with his blue lightsaber. A Sith Apprentice stepped up, red lightsaber held aloft. The Apprentice swung it around and around, in a display of his apparent skill with a lightsaber. Giving an exasperated sigh as he was doing this, Daemon took out his holstered blaster and shot the Sith Apprentice in the head.

Finally, the trio ran up the stairs of the temple as the Sith Troopers continued to shoot at them. Jun shot several more troopers from behind before shouldering his trusty sniper rifle and running up himself, now with a DMR in hand. They hastily ran up the stairs, and then swerved around the corner and made their way up the very top of the structure. They took cover behind the wall, looked out, and there they were; two SPARTANs, one in standard-issue light green Mark V armor like the Master Chiefs, and the other wearing a mix of different types of armors in tan. The tan-armored SPARTAN was also quite massive, much larger than any SPARTAN the Chief had ever seen before. Regardless, Master Chief was overjoyed to see other surviving SPARTANS. So much so, that he had to suppress his happiness a bit when he called out to them:

"SPARTANS, identify yourselves immediately" The chief tried to sound stern and demanding as befitting a commander giving out orders, but the tone in his voice betrayed it. Nevertheless, the two SPARTANS acknowledged the order, turned around, and took their helmets off. The SPARTAN in the mix-matched armor was a Caucasian man with short brown hair, as well as a moustache. As for the other SPARTAN….Master Chief couldn't believe it.

"Linda?"

Linda smiled. "Hey there Chief. Was wondering when you would show up. Where's Fred and Kelly?" she asked in a mildly pleasant tone as if their current situation was decidedly less bleak.

"No idea." The Chief replied bluntly. "But I am definitely happy to see you. Who's you—?" The Chief was cut off by Jun and Kat's combined exclamation of surprise: "JORGE!"

Jorge smiled. "Hello Kat. Jun. Surprised? Well I am too. Where are the others? How is Reach?"

The two SPARTANS did not respond at first, finding it impossible to tell Jorge that his sacrifice had _not _saved Reach, and that it, and the other half of Noble Team, where dead. Jorge could tell what had happened by their silence though, and his smile faded as quickly as it had appeared.

"Oh…What about mom?"

"Dr. Halsey made it off" Jun said. "But the same can't be said for the others on the team"

Jun could almost make out a single tear escape Jorge's eye and slide down his cheek as he told him this. Finally, the big man said: "We can talk _after _we get the hell of this planet. I'm sure we all have our stories to tell"

Kat and Jun nodded. Master Chief turned to regard Jorge.

"What's the situation soldier?" Master Chief asked.

"Well, these ruins are three stories tall and on a bit of a hill. That's good news for us. It's made it that much easier for Linda and I to take potshots at the waves of witless idiots they keep throwing at us. The ones you killed got the farthest of any wave."

Master Chief silently nodded in agreement to everything as Jorge continued:

"But, then there's the downside. They've reinforced the other side heavily, and those melee warriors of theirs are leading their forces. Going down that way would be suicide. Even with us being five SPARTANS plus a Jedi and all. But we can't just stay camped out here either. They can easily wait us out, or, more likely, they'll just come swarming in with more troopers then we can fend off. I don't know about any of you, but while I'm pretty damn good in close quarters—" Jorge motioned at his machine gun turret resting on the ground. "Those melee fighters with the red swords are lethal. One swing's enough to chop a man's limbs off, armor and all"

"No SPARTAN is ever useless Jorge." Master Chief said. "Unless they're in a body-bag."

"Well I'll keep that in mind the next time I'm in a sticky situation like this one…assuming I get out of _this_ one alive..."

"Come on" Jun said. "You blew up a Covenant cruiser by sending yourself and it through a slipspace hole and then somehow lived to tell the tale. What's this to someone like you?" Jun chuckled and then moved towards the balcony, taking a look out at the battlefield with his sniper rifle.

"OK, let's see what their up to…."

A laser blast suddenly fired out, barely missing Jun's head and hitting the nearby wall instead. Jun swore loudly and looked back down to see where the shot had come from. About a second later, he fired. The Sith Trooper that had made the shot fell down dead, a bullet now lodged in his skull.

"OK, now that that's taken care of, let's get back to scanning the area…."

Jun scanned the battlefield for a while, looking this way and that with his rifle's scope, trying to figure out what the Sith's next move would be. Meanwhile, Master Chief was talking to Linda about their experiences following Reach. The last time he had seen her, he'd thought Linda had died.

"Almost did" Linda said, "But they managed to save me. It was terrible, being on the edge of death like that. Afterwards, we made a blind jump through slipspace just like the _Pillar of Autumn_ did, and we ended up in this galaxy far, far away..."

Linda went on to explain how a whole fleet of ships then attacked them. She had gotten separated from Fred, Kelly, and Kurt, and the Pelican she got in had crash-landed on Yavin. She and the Marines she was with where later found by Jorge, whose hijacked Covenant corvette had also ended up there.

"The marines didn't last long," Linda finished

"So it's just you and him?"

"I'm afraid so Chief. Let's face it; the marines have never been all that great against the Covenant we've been fighting for years. Against these guys, with insta-kill laser weapons and those dark powers of shooting lightning from their hands and tossing us around, they never really had a chance did they? In fact I'm kind of surprised that Jorge and I have lasted this long"

"To be fair, we are a cut above the average marine"

"Yeah, that's true, but not even we can take down those dark warriors of theirs."

"Yes, they do seem quite powerful…" Cortana interceded. "I wonder how they're able to do that…the electricity generation especially. But can you imagine if you had that kind of power? Or if every marine did? We could turn the whole war around!"

"I'll say. No Elite could ever survive a whole squad of marines with those kinds of powers."

"Yes, the Dark Side is a dangerous thing indeed," Daemon remarked "It may be tempting to think of what you could do with those kinds of powers, but trust me when I say that you and your friends are lucky that you don't have the power of the Dark Side at your disposal. Oh, it might be useful in the short term, but eventually, it would corrupt you, twist you, turn you into complete monsters, and in the end…it would destroy you. I've seen it happen. A lot of Jedi have…I even saw it destroy my brother. Tore him apart from the inside out"

For about a second there was silence before Linda remarked: "Maybe marines having these powers wouldn't be such a good idea"

"No, it would not" Daemon agreed. Though the two SPARATANS were not force-sensitive, they definitely seemed to understand it a little better than their fellow soldiers did. In some ways, Daemon thought, they were more capable then any Jedi, as they didn't need to rely solely on the force. Instead, they had to use their wits, their training, and their own physical capability to survive. Daemon could respect that, as he had seen it numerous times before fighting alongside the soldiers and commandos of the Republic, among others. But these SPARTANS seemed to be more skilled at what they did then even the most dangerous republic commando Daemon had ever seen.

It was then that Jun broke the silence. "Damn."

The others all turned around.

"What's wrong Jun?" Kat asked.

"Their mobilizing, looks like those damned creepy dark warriors will be leading this wave, and…oh no….they're setting up some kind of turrets. My guess is they're going to shell us out and let their reinforcements finish the job"

"Well, I suppose these idiots had to use their brains eventually…" Jorge mumbled. He turned to Master Chief. "Well, you're the highest-ranking SPARTAN here Master Chief. What are your orders?"

"Actually, _I_ am the highest-ranking—"

Master Chief cut Kat off as he gave out orders: "Linda, you take aim at those turrets, take them down hard and fast. Jorge, Jun, take down as many of those Sith Troopers as you can, Kat and I will handle any soldiers that get past you two. And Daemon…"

Master Chief trailed off a bit before finally saying

"…You handle their leaders with the red swords"

Daemon nodded silently in response.

"Excellent. Alright everyone, get ready. They're coming in force!"

No sooner had the Chief finished his sentence then the next wave of Sith Troopers came swarming in, as the turrets unleashed a vicious barrage of laser fire on the temple ruins, forcing the Daemon and the SPARTANS to take cover. Using her supernatural sharpshooting skills, Linda shot both of the turret operators before falling back behind cover. The remaining Sith Troopers and Grenadiers running, only to be cut down with sniper fire from Jorge and Jun. Finally, a small team of Sith Troopers wearing red variations of the usual silver armor and armed with heavy repeating blasters, made their way up the stairs…

Jorge, realizing the Sith Heavy Troopers were trying to sneak up on them, shouldered his sniper rifle and made his way down, machine gun turret in hand, and let loose on the approaching Sith. The heavy troopers quickly hit the dirt as Jorge kept up his assault and retaliated with fire of their own that ripped through his energy shields. Jorge activated an armor lock before backpedaling, continuing to open fire as he did so. Realizing that there were troopers that had gotten inside the temple, Daemon force-sprinted down and aided Jorge in taking them down with a mix of lightsaber attacks, force powers, and a shot or two from his trusty blaster.

-X-

Bastila wandered the ruined Massassi temple with seemingly no true purpose, at least in the eyes of the Sith Troopers accompanying her. But in truth, she was taking in everything she saw, or at least, everything she saw that remained to be seen. She observed the ruined training grounds that had once been used to instruct Sith and Dark Jedi adepts and apprentices in the ways of the Dark Side and the shattered remnants of statues of ancient Sith Lords of the past, with an almost obsessed interest. And all the while she was basking in the intense Dark Side presence on the planet that only she could feel.

"Lord Revan's predecessor suffered his final defeat here" Bastila said, seemingly to no one but was in actuality talking to the Sith Troopers. She turned directly at one. The Trooper, Skell, looked up at her.

"Yes Lord Bastila?"

"This place" she pointed with a gloved hand. "This temple on this moon, it was where the Sith Lord before Lord Revan, Exar Kun, made his final stand. It is where he fell, and his empire along with him."

Skell didn't respond. Truth be told, he barely understood the force, so he felt it wasn't his place to say anything. Bastila continued, unfazed by his silence:

"Lord Revan considers Exar Kun a role model, albeit one whose vision was a flawed one. He contributes that to his downfall. Exar Kun wanted to completely destroy the Republic and the Jedi Order. Lord Revan wishes the same thing, but he also wants to _reform_ the Republic. Give a new order to the galaxy, something Exar Kun never truly bothered with…"

Never an idealist and not honestly that interested in galactic history, Skell merely nodded in agreement to everything, but no so often that Bastila would catch on that he wasn't really paying a ton of attention. Then, a voice crackled to life on his comlink for all to hear:

"Attention! All units be advised! The supersoldiers we had pinned in one of the old temples have received reinforcements! One of them is a Jedi! They're trying to escape the temple! They're ripping our unit apart, all units, converge at the nearby Massassi temple, repeat all units converge on the nearby Massassi temple now!"

The comlink channel went silent. Skell turned to Lord Bastila who had already gone back to turning her full attention to the temple's ruins.

"Lord Bastila, the—"

"I _know_, soldier. We cannot let them escape. Lord Revan would be displeased if they were to get away…"

Skell nodded and ran off with the other Sith Troopers to the designated temple, and Bastila ran there as well, sprinting with the aid of the force. She was the first to arrive, and saw indeed, six armored individuals, one of them clearly a Jedi, where desperately fighting their way down the temple's winding stairs in a bid to escape, the Sith's turret emplacements having finally flushed them out. A heap, nay, an ocean of dead Sith Troopers littered the ground. It was a bloody sight. Bastila basked in it to increase her power as she charged with the remaining Sith forces, activating her red double-bladed lightsaber.

As Daemon and the SPARTANS ran down the temple, under heavy fire from the Sith forces, Daemon turned around to face Bastila and her soldiers. She was here. The woman he had been tasked with killing was here. Wasting no time, Daemon called on the force and directed it at Bastila in the form of a massive force push. The blast shot through the air and knocked the Sith Troopers down like they were struck by a tidal wave. Bastila, however, held her ground, her feet planted in the soil, and her lightsaber still at the ready. Daemon readied his own lightsaber, and prepared for his duel with Bastila.

Meanwhile, the five SPARTANS kept up their assault, with Jorge and the Master Chief leading the charge and taking most of the fire from the Sith Trooper's guns, which dispersed their shields. In such an intense firefight, Jun and Linda, exemplary as they were when sniping was concerned, couldn't get off a single shot. Kat, however, managed to land a several headshots with her pistol, as well as tossing in a grenade or two to keep the Sith Troopers disorganized and at bay.

"Does that thing ever run out of bullets?" Jun asked as Kat landed another headshot.

"Is that really relevant right now?"

"I suppose not"

Jun and Kat kept running with the other SPARTANS back to _The Silent Star. _As they did, another Sith Grenadier perished under their assault, dropping a pair of grenades, one of which rolled to Jun's feet. Jun grabbed the small red grenade and looked at it as he kept running.

"Huh. Wonder what _this_ grenade does."

Deciding to find out, Jun stopped running for a moment and chucked it at some nearby Sith Troopers. The troopers were promptly blown away in an explosion that made a rocket launcher's blast look innocent in comparison. Jorge stared at the massive fireball wide-eyed.

"Oh."

As the five SPARTANS neared the _Silent Star, _Daemon engaged in a duel with Bastila. Bastila fought violently, yet with finesse, landing each blow with cold, calculating precision. Daemon was silently impressed as he deflected another well-telegraphed blow at his neck area. Her technique was flawless. Revan and Malak had both trained her well.

Bastila made another series of whirring slashes with her double saber, forcing Daemon to take several steps back as he deflected each blow. She attempted another strike at his head, but he swatted the blade away. Incensed by this, Bastila attempted a thrust with the other blade on her saber. Daemon met the thrust with his blade and deflected it as well. He then attempted a swing of his own, which Bastila ducked to avoid before then bringing her double-saber up to strike him again. Once again, Daemon deflected the strike.

Meanwhile, the five SPARTANS had since arrived at the _Silent Star_. Jorge whipped around and began to provide covering fire with his machine gun turret. Linda and Jun chose to aid him, using their sniper rifles to kill any Sith Troopers Jorge missed.

"Just like old times eh Jorge?" Jun asked. Jorge didn't respond, too engaged in the intense battle. And as the three SPARTANS provided covering fire, Master Chief and Kat made their way onto the ship.

"Yank me Chief" Cortana said "I think I can fly this ship without Daemon."

Master Chief did as he was told and took Cortana's chip out of his helmet. He inserted the chip into a slit on the mainframe of the ship, and after a second or two, Cortana's voice rang out:

"I'm in control."

"Good" Master Chief turned to Jorge, Linda, and Jun.

"SPARTANS! Time to go!"

Linda and Jun acknowledged and were the first to rush in. Jorge continued to let loose with his machine-gun turret a little longer before coming up the ramp as well. The ramp closed as the blaster fire continued, some shots hitting _The Silent Star _and damaging it slightly. Under Cortana's control, _The_ _Silent Star _took off and flew past the Sith Troopers.

Meanwhile, Daemon and Bastila's duel continued, with each opponent brandishing a double-bladed lightsaber, and thus having to deflect twice as many blades. But as Daemon could see clearly as Bastila deflected another flurry of his blows and then he in turn deflected two more attempted strikes from her, it didn't matter. Their skills where at a level where a double-saber was not a major inconvenience for either one of them. Daemon moved out of the way of another strike and looked up. He could see his ship was floating over head, preparing for a landing. Bastila outstretched her hand, planning to lock the ship in a force grip, but Daemon blasted her back with a force push. He then looked up and hailed his ship. It lowered steadily and extended a ramp for him to get on. Wasting no time, Daemon ducked under the next swing of Bastila's lightsaber and leaped onto the extended ramp with the aid of the force and got onto his ship as it flew away.

Bastila scowled as she watched her Jedi opponent escape her grasp. One of the Sith Troopers nervously walked up to her.

"Uh…erm, my Lady…they've escaped…"

Bastila whipped around to regard the soldier and replied venomously: "I know they've escaped you imbecile! Tell the fighters in space to intercept them and destroy them!"

But it was too late. _The Silent Star_ had already made the jump to lightspeed. Upon sensing it, Bastila did not react visibly, but deep down, she practically exploded in her anger, and indeed, her men could feel her fury radiating off of her in waves. She turned around to Skell:

"Order your men to pack up. We're leaving."

"Yes Lord Bastila."

And with that, Bastila stormed off in a huff, leaving her men behind. She and that Jedi would meet again, she vowed. And next time, she would take his head off.

Meanwhile, _The Silent Star _returned to Mygeeto and touched down on the landing pad. Carth and Captain Keyes were already waiting for them. When the ship's passengers all clambered out, Carth and Keyes were both quite surprised to discover that Cortana had been right: there had indeed been SPARTANS on Yavin IV, and they were standing before them right now. Master Chief walked up to the duo first and saluted them.

"At ease Master Chief. I'm pleased to see that you're back…and not alone either."

"No sir. Cortana was correct about there being other SPARTANS on Yavin IV. And according to Petty Officer Second Class 058, there are others as well."

Keyes raised an eyebrow. "Is that a fact?"

"Yes sir. She says the rest of Blue Team are out there somewhere."

"I see. Didn't Blue Team escape Reach with Catherine?"

"Yes sir."

Keyes said nothing for a moment after this. Finally, he said: "It's funny you should say that. Admiral Onasi's ship picked up a message between Sith forces. It mentioned "super-soldiers" being captured and taken to a place called "Korriban" We wanted to wait for you to come back before we took any kind of action."

Master Chief turned to Daemon: "What is Korriban?"

"It's the birthplace of the Sith. Both the organization, and the species it's named after. Revan's Sith Empire keeps an academy that trains new recruits in the Dark Side of the Force. If your fellow SPARTANS are being held there, then they're in bigger trouble then they realize. The Sith students there have a preference for training sessions with the live, and the sentient."

Master Chief turned to him. "We're going to get them out. There's no chance in hell my fellow SPARTANS are going to become some sick students practice-dummies."

"That would be suicide. We'd be completely outnumbered by legions of Dark Force users. And we'd also have to infiltrate the Sith Academy. No easy feat I assure you. And finally, how do you propose we get past the blockade the Sith have set up around the planet? It is, after all, one of their most important worlds"

"Your ship is a small vessel. Can't that slip through the blockade?"

"It might, but the risks would be enormous. We might still be spotted, and if we were spotted, we would be shot down. It's as simple as that. Believe me, I understand your feelings for your fellow SPARTANS, I do, but a rescue mission would not work. And besides, we already took a great risk with our trip to Yavin IV. I do not think it would be wise to take another such risk"

Daemon's words weighed heavily on the Chief's mind. He was right of course. And he normally wouldn't think like this either. While the SPARTANS were trained to look after one another, they were also trained to achieve victory for the human race, and if that meant sacrificing a few of their fellow SPARTANS, so be it. But the Blue Team; Kelly, Fred, and Kurt…they were more than "fellow SPARTANS" to him. They were the greatest friends he ever had. The only family he still had left…but in the end, he was forced to agree; a rescue mission wouldn't work. He'd pushed it with Linda and Jorge as it was.

"Yes, you're right"

But then Carth spoke up: "Actually, if you really want to free your friends I know a way we can make this rescue mission of yours a reality. What I'm thinking of is one hell of a plan, but I think it might just work…"

Author's Note: This one took a while to finish. I suffered from writer's block, among other things, about half-way through, and only recently have I finished this chapter. So I hope you enjoyed it. Please RR!


	12. Chapter 12: Rescue Mission

Chapter 12: Rescue Mission

Chapter 12: Rescue Mission

The ship entered Korriban's atmosphere and was greeted with a small fleet of Sith warships. To the blockade, the new ship coming in was nothing to be concerned about: just another Czerka freighter. Czerka was allowed to run a mining guild on Korriban with the Sith's blessing, so Czerka freighters were allowed to come and go as they pleased. Little did the Sith vessels realize though, that the freighter did not contain the usual crew of Czerka miners and employees…instead, those on board included Master Chief, Linda, Daemon, and the remaining half of Noble Team. Cortana; inserted into the ship's Nav computer, had been piloting the vehicle manually.

"I still can't believe the captain said yes to this…" Jorge muttered. Kat turned to him.

"As I once told you back on Reach: some plans are too good to say no. This "Trojan Horse" strategy Admiral Onasi came up with is one of those"

Master Chief interjected: "Boarding this "Czerka" ship and using it to enter Korriban undetected is the best route. The only route actually, that doesn't involve being killed. Cortana, how much longer till we get to the planet's surface?"

"Soon Chief" Cortana's voice came over the com. As the ship kept moving, they were hailed by one of the Sith warships:

"Attention incoming Czerka freighter, this is _The Cerberus, _we require your ship's ID signature before we let you land."

"Cortana…"

"Already sent them. (I still can't get over how advanced these ships are…)

A second passed. Then another. Finally, the Sith Captain's voice came on again:

"ID signature checks out. You are clear to pass."

The ship's six occupants breathed a sigh of relief as the stolen Czerka freighter continued its flight down to the Sith homeworld. Moving past the Sith warships, it descended into the atmosphere. The ship's half-dozen passengers were greeted with a planet covered in jagged mountains, barren wastelands, and dusty terrain. Some large mountains appeared to be dormant volcanoes, and there was only one settlement in the area…

"That's Dreshade." Daemon pointed out, "It's where we land the ship."

"Understood" The Chief replied.

"It looks like a planet that's been glassed…" Linda remarked as the ship landed. Daemon tossed each of the SPARTANS a robe or cloak the second the ship touched the ground.

"All of you, put these on, and take your helmets off. We can't have the Sith knowing who we are."

"What about you?" Linda asked curtly "Don't these guys have a mad-on for Jedi like you?"

"With my armor and blaster, I appear as merely another bounty hunter. I don't exactly match the stereotypical image of a Jedi."

"Uh-huh…what about your lightsaber?"

"Hidden it."

Linda sighed and grabbed one of the brown cloaks lying on the ground. She took off her mark V helmet and set it down. She didn't like the idea of having her helmet off, and in the middle of enemy territory no less, but she also knew the value of stealth and keeping a low profile, so she did as she was told, and the other SPARTANS followed suit. All of them that is, except for Jorge.

"Unfortunately Jorge, I don't have anything big enough for you. And your appearance as is would give us away. I'm going to have to ask that you stay with the ship."

"Understood." Jorge turned to the other four SPARTANS. "You hear that guys? I'll be all by lonesome here, so hurry it up would ya?"

"A-hem…"

"Oh right. Sorry Cortana…"

The ramp was extended. With Daemon up front, the five exited the ship, and went to the docking bay doors. Manning the terminal was a man with lightly tanned skin, black hair in a buzz-cut, and some rather worn features. And his Czerka uniform was dirty. He looked up at Daemon and the SPARTANS.

"You folks don't look like Czerka employees…" His gaze shifted to Master Chief's pale, scar-riddled face.

"And what the hell happened to you? Your face looks like it was mauled by a crazed Wookie or something…"

Daemon interjected: "We are mercenaries on Czerka's payroll. The administrator has a job for us. Please let us in so we may speak with him."

The dock manager eyed Daemon and the SPARTANS suspiciously, focusing especially on Linda and the Chief due to their extremely pale complexion. Finally though, he relented and opened the door for them.

"Enjoy your stay…"

The five went through the door and into the main facility.

"For how long it lasts…"

The five made their way through the halls of the Dreshade facility, with Daemon in front, followed by the Chief and Kat. Jun and Linda tailed right behind.

"So what exactly are we looking for?" Kat asked Daemon.

"Sith Students. I've spent time on Korriban when I was a prisoner of the Sith, so I know a little of how the academy works: you need a certain medallion, which you must show to the Sith, to gain access to the academy. Unfortunately, said medallions are pretty much impossible to acquire, which means we're going to have to take the medallions from the students who already have them. Now, normally I'd call that robbery and manipulation, but these students are typically psychotic and violent individuals, and ours is the greater cause, so I can't say I'm going to be too broken once I cheat one of these students out of their chance at being a Sith…"

A cry of anguish rang out. The five turned to the source.

"Well, that was quick…" Daemon muttered. He raced forward. The four SPARTANS followed right behind, wrapping their cloaks tightly around their armor to keep it from being exposed. They came upon a man in a gray uniform, standing in front of a trio of aliens, all of whom looked to be in a considerable amount of pain. Especially a Twi'lek male who was on his knees who was likely the source of the scream.

"No you fool, that is the wrong answer! Pathetic! If every Sith thought like you did, we'd all be soft like the Jedi!"

"I'm…I'm sorry, I didn't know! Please, give me another chance!"

"_Another Chance! _Imbecile! The Sith don't give second chances! No, no, it's time you paid the price for your stupidi—"

The Sith Student noticed Daemon and the SPARTANS approaching him and turned his attention to them.

"And what are _**you **_fools looking at! Move along now, before I decide to make you lot a part of the show!"

Daemon raised his hand in response and remarked:

"You don't want to hurt anyone."

"I…I don't want to hurt anyone…"

"This is not the life you want to lead…"

"This is not the life I want to lead…"

"You want to give me your medallion…"

"I…want to give you…my medallion…" The Sith student took out his medallion and gave it to Daemon who took it in his other hand. Daemon continued:

"…You want to leave this planet and start a new life…"

"I…want to leave this planet, and start a new life…"

And with that, the Sith Student walked off, leaving Daemon, the SPARTANS, and his alien victims behind. The SPARTANS all gave Daemon looks of complete shock and surprise. He turned to them.

"Jedi mind trick. Don't worry, he'll be fine in an hour or so. Now come on, let's go find a Sith teacher to show this to."

The five left, Daemon pausing only to force-heal the wounded aliens. They made their way through the halls as discreetly and quietly as they possibly could, until finally, they arrived at the entrance to a cantina. The sign read: "The Drunk Side"

"Cute" Linda remarked as she read it. Daemon walked in first, with the SPARTANS right behind. Many of the bar patrons paused to look up at the group of newcomers before returning to their drinks and other past-times. Daemon scanned the cantina looking for anyone who matched the image of a Sith teacher. Eventually, Daemon spied a middle-aged man in the same gray uniform as the Sith student he had gotten the medallion from, relaxing in an isolated corner of the cantina.

"Perfect." Daemon turned to the SPARTANS. "You four wait here and don't do anything. I'm going to go talk to that Sith Teacher."

Daemon walked off towards the middle-aged man while the four SPARTANS huddled together. They began to talk amongst themselves:

"So, still think this is a good idea? Walking right into the lion's den?" Jun asked.

"Daemon seems pretty confident in this. It will work. But let's not talk about it anymore. Wouldn't want any of _them_ to hear us."

"Yeah, yeah…so…the Master Chief eh? Jorge may have mentioned you once or twice. Have any good stories you want to tell us?"

"If by "good stories" you mean relating experiences where I had to watch countless humans be mercilessly butchered while I alone was often the only person to make it out alive, then yes, I've got a lot of "good stories" I can share with you."

Jun turned to Kat.

"I like this guy. A lot."

Kat sighed. Linda remarked: "I've seen what you've done with that sniper rifle Jun. Not bad for a number three. But next time we get into a firefight, I'll be sure to show you how its done."

"I'm anxiously awaiting your infinite wisdom" Jun replied sarcastically

The four were taken out of their conversation by the return of Daemon. Master Chief turned to him: "Well?"

"It's good. I've been admitted into the Sith Academy. You four are my…er…"

"We're your _what_?" Linda asked

"My slaves. Before any of you say anything, it's just to keep up appearances, I give you my word. And don't worry, I'm not going to be cracking a whip on you or anything. You're just going to have to stay close to me."

"Ah, that's perfect…"

"Come on. The more time we waste…"

Master Chief cut him off: "You don't need to finish that sentence. Let's move SPARTANS."

The five exited the Dreshade settlement and went to the nearby Sith Academy. The door opened for them, and in they went. Inside were several men and women in gray uniforms mulling about. Armed guards in the same uniforms patrolled the halls, teachers over-saw sparring matches between students, and in the very center of the main room, a female twi'lek was meditating. Upon Daemon's arrival, she rose to her feet.

"Ah, what is this? A new initiate to the Dark Side?"

"Yes" Daemon lied.

"Good. I am Yuthura Ban, the headmistress of this academy. I should inform you that you are only one of several new initiates. Typically, every new initiate must gain sufficient "prestige" before they can undergo the final test to become a true Sith. I sense that the Force is quite strong within you. You should do well here, assuming you remain dedicated and determined."

"I am both of those things and more"

"Indeed…well, good luck, new recruit…and welcome to the Dark Side."

After his conversation with Yuthura, Daemon and the SPARTANS were escorted to Daemon's room in the academy. Once they were sure other Sith where out of earshot, Daemon whispered to the SPARTANS:

"All right; listen: there is a training room in this academy. If I had to guess, that is where your friends would be."

"It's where _Blue Team_ will be. But where would they keep Dr. Halsey?"

"Yeah, no offense, but I don't think a cranky middle-aged woman would be much use to bloodthirsty students as a training dummy" Jun added.

"Interrogation most likely," Daemon replied. "I'll look there first."

And so, Daemon went into the interrogation room as the SPARTANS remained behind in his room. Upon entering the interrogation room, Daemon found a Sith Student standing over a cell containing none other than Dr. Catherine Halsey. Upon entering, the Sith student turned his focus to him, glaring at him with his yellow eyes.

"Yes? Is there something I can help you with?"

"Who's the prisoner?"

"Oh the old crone? Some scientist or another. I'm to find out what she knows as far as what she's been working on for the Republic's strange new allies is concerned, but she's tougher then she looks. Probably been trained to resist interrogation. But she's never had to deal with a _Sith_ interrogator before…"

"I see. How about I take over for you? I'm looking for a way to gain some prestige with mistress Yuthura and this seems like as good a way as anything else."

"Yeah sure, whatever. Let me just show you how the drug system works first though…"

The Sith Interrogator went on to explain how Dr. Halsey's drug threshold could be increased or decreased, and by how much. He also told Daemon how if he brought her drug threshold too high, she would expire. Daemon pretended to listen intently before then being left to his own devices. He whispered to Dr. Halsey:

"I thought he'd never leave. Hello doctor. Remember me?"

"Yes, I think I do…you where the Jedi who was with Admiral Onasi on Reach, am I correct?"

"Yes, that was me. Listen: a couple of your "SPARTANS" are here on Korriban. I don't have time to explain, but we're looking for the SPARTANS that got captured with you. Do you know where they are?"

"They're being held in the "training room" for the students to…use."

"Thought so. Do you know how I can free you?"

"I've been trying to work that out myself. I'm thinking that if you inject me with enough of this "truth serum", I'll go into a catatonic state. Then, the interrogator will dump my body, and one of the SPARTANS with you can meet up with me…the SPARTANS are here, are they not?"

"Yes they are. I'll get Linda to find you."

"Linda? Oh good to know she's alive…"

"Yes. Alright, I'm going to inject the truth serum now. Are you ready?"

"Ready."

Nodding in response, Daemon carefully injected the right amount of "truth serum" to render Dr. Halsey catatonic. Upon hearing her collapse, the Sith Interrogator rushed back into the room in confusion.

"What the hell is going on?" His eyes fell upon Halsey's body. " You idiot! You botched the job!"

"Actually, I got all the information out of her that I needed. Not my fault she went into shock immediately after."

"Yes, well…great. I suppose I'll just dump her body somewhere…"

As the Sith Interrogator set about doing this, Daemon went back to the SPARTANS and told the group of what had transpired. Linda went to find and meet up with Dr. Halsey while Daemon, Master Chief and Kat proceeded to the training room. Upon entering they saw a repulsive sight indeed: Sith students were not so much sparring with one another so much as they where dueling, and killing, prisoners. What few students that where sparring with one another, where vicious to say the least, and their nearby teachers seemed to be taking sadistic pleasure in watching their students seriously injure one another. Inside the cells where four tall, muscular, individuals, all of whom were half-naked. Two of the men had pale skin like Master Chief and Linda, but the complexions of the woman and the third man were a little less ghostly white. One of the pale-skinned men looked like he couldn't take much more punishment, and indeed, all four where being tortured. Master Chief recognized the four prisoners.

"It's them…Fred, Kelly, Kurt, William…my G-d…these monsters are killing them…"

"Hang on Chief. We blow our cover now, it's all over for us. In fact, you should stay back. If they recognize you and shout out your name…"

"Understood" Master Chief backed away and retreated behind a corner before his fellow SPARTANS saw him and recognized him. He felt extremely guilty doing this, but the rational part of his mind prevailed. His presence would kill the rescue mission. And so he remained hidden while Daemon and Kat walked into the training room...

Meanwhile, Jun paced back and forth, waiting for Daemon, Kat, and the Chief to find Blue Team and free them so they could finally get the hell out of this creepy academy. Jun had gotten a bad feeling in his gut the second they had stepped inside, but he'd kept it to himself up until now. But now it was really starting to eat away at him like a plague through its victim. He hadn't been a recurring survivor without knowing when to act on instinct, and now he had a serious feeling that things were about to get even worse, and fast.

"Getting one of your feelings again Jun old boy?"

Jun's heart skipped a beat, and his ears perked up. He didn't forget a voice, and even with the distortion caused by the helmet, he recognized this one anywhere. But he couldn't believe who it was…

"Six?"

Jun whipped around and saw Noble Six standing in front of him. Only he wasn't wearing his usual armor. His left shoulder pad with knife and tactical/TACPAD wrist piece were still the same, but instead of Six's old red armor with a bit of black, the colors were now reversed. His helmet and right shoulder pad where "COMMANDO", the same as Carter's, and he wore an HP-HALO chest piece. He also seemed...different in some other way, but Jun couldn't exactly figure out what or why. Noble Six spoke again:

"Oh yes, Jun. It's me. In the flesh. Don't be fooled by the new armor, I'm still the same, see?"

Six took off his helmet and sure enough, Jun recognized the face as being Noble Six's. But he was still suspicious, for the obvious question had not been answered.

"How did you…?"

"Survive? The Sith decided I'd make a nice training dummy, so they brought me here. I escaped, but when I saw you, Kat, and the Jedi, I knew you had come here for the others. So I came back to help."

"I see…"

Jun looked at Noble Six's face again, and saw something he had missed at first. He remembered that the one time he had seen Six with his helmet off, his eyes had been gray. He also remembered how every single Sith he'd shot had had yellow eyes…and now Six's were yellow too…

Jun realized what all of this meant a split-second too late. As he tried to draw his sniper rifle, Noble Six blasted him backwards with a force push. Then, he locked him in a force grip and hurled him into a nearby wall. Jun staggered to his feet only to watch as his sniper rifle was cleaved in two by a red lightsaber. Six then pointed the crimson blade right at Jun's face as nearby academy guards rushed to the scene and aimed their heavy repeating blasters at Jun.

"Don't be stupid Jun. I'd rather not have to decapitate you. Now get your ass up. It's time we pay Kat a visit…"

-X-

Daemon and Kat had moved into the main area of the training room, both analyzing the scene in an attempt to find some way of freeing the captive SPARTANS. But as they where, a female voice cut through:

"Jedi!"

Yuthura Ban was standing at the entrance to the training room, along with Noble Six, a captive Jun, and a whole squad of Sith Academy guards, lieutenants, and heavy troopers, all armed to the teeth and with their respective weapons trained on Kat and Daemon.

"That's right Jedi. I know who you really are. Did you really think I would have fallen for your fantastically stupid scheme?"

As Yuthura said this, Noble Six spoke directly to Kat upon seeing her:

"Kat, my love, is that you? Heh, you look as sexy as ever."

"Six?"

"The Sith have corrupted him Kat! He's on their side no-"

Noble Six cut Jun off with a strike across the head. "Shut up Jun, before I run you through."

Yuthura Ban continued: "I knew who you where the moment you entered my academy. I just waited to catch you in the act of attempting to free the prisoners. Now, since you're so eager to see your friends again, why don't you step into those empty cells lining the wall and join them in confinement?"

"Actually," Daemon retorted, "Since you just blew our cover for us, I no longer have a reason to be subtle, so…"

Not moving his arms but still calling on the force all the same, Daemon ripped open the captive SPARTANS cells and hurled the remains at Yuthura and company, disorienting them long enough for the freed SPARTANS to rush over to Daemon and Kat's side, the former igniting both blades on his double-bladed lightsaber. Meanwhile, Noble Six was knocked to the ground by a powerful force that was none other than the Master Chief charging up from behind. The Chief and Jun rushed forward to gather up with Daemon and the other SPARTANS, bowling over the surprised Sith forces as they did so. With a wave of his free hand, Daemon disarmed the Sith Academy heavy troopers of their rifles and tossed them to the SPARTANS. Master Chief shot his old friends a quick glance.

"Hey guys."

"Hello Chief." Fred replied. "About time we saw you again. And without your helmet no less."

"Very funny Fred. Alright people. Let's stay close together, let the Jedi take the lead. No one fall behind."

"Roger" was the unanimous response from Blue Team. The guards that still had guns trained them on the group, and Yuthura, Noble Six, and the surrounding Sith students and teachers ignited their lightsabers….

"GO!"

Daemon and the SPARTANS sprinted forward, blasters firing. Sith fell down with ease and Daemon force-pushed those that were still standing out of the way. The Sith students attempted to move in and attack with their lightsabers, but Daemon proved to be the superior swordsman, and any students that moved in where cut down. The group fought their way out of the training room area and into the main part of the academy. As the group made their way to the center area, the amount of resistance they encountered increased. Laser blasts were flying everywhere, and it was all the SPARTANS, all without any protective head-wear, could do to keep from being shot dead. Daemon, for his part, was having to fend off every single Sith in the academy that had a lightsaber, and despite his superior skill, even he had his limits. A few lucky students managed to land some strikes that would have crippled him were it not for his armor.

"We need to get out of here now, before we get overrun!" Daemon shouted

"We're trying! We're trying!" Master Chief shouted back.

The group kept moving, fighting desperately to get to the exit. The recently freed Blue Team were using every last ounce of their remaining stamina in this one desperate charge. Somehow, Kelly retained her superior speed, and thus the Sith force's laser blasts missed her completely. Kurt's reflexes were also intact. But Fred, and especially William, where struggling. The Chief could see it. They'd been too badly tortured. Worse, both Kurt and Fred were both grazed by laser blasts that just barely missed their vital organs.

A lightsaber blade sailed through the air. Master Chief ducked it. The blade embedded itself into a nearby wall. Master Chief didn't waste time to find and shoot the Sith who had thrown it. He just kept moving along with everyone else. Finally, the group reached the exit, which several Sith guards had blocked off. Noble Six and Yuthura Ban came up behind along with a pair of Sith Teachers. The heroes were sandwiched in.

A sniper shot rang out. Then another. And another. The SPARTANS turned and saw Linda running in, sniper rifle in hand, and Dr. Halsey at her side, wielding a blaster rifle no less.

"Ha ha! Cavalry's here!" Fred shouted happily as he provided covering fire for Linda and Dr. Halsey, who were soon safely with the others. Meanwhile, Master Chief, Kelly, Kurt, and Kat shot down the Sith guarding the door, with Master Chief taking the brunt of their laser blasts since he still had his armor with energy shields while Kelly and Kurt were unprotected. Finally, the last Sith guard fell, just as the Chief's energy shields died out. He, Kelly, and Kurt rushed forward first, with Dr. Halsey right behind and Fred and Linda providing covering fire.

Meanwhile, Daemon attempted to fend off Yuthura and the other Sith teachers, but he was tiring, and they could see it as they continued their assault. Nevertheless, Daemon fought hard, using both blades of his double-bladed lightsaber against the attacking Sith. Eventually, he sliced one of the Sith Teacher's double-sabers in two, and cut down the other with a slash across the chest. Meanwhile, as Jun and Kat were following behind the SPARTAN-IIs, a force-push knocked Jun to the ground. Kat whipped around, her pistol aimed at the source of the blast: Noble Six.

"Is this how you react to the news that I'm alive Kat? By pointing a gun at me? I'm hurt."

"No. Noble Six died on Reach. You're just a sadistic monster wearing his face. And I'll be happy to blow that face off."

"Ah, you're so violent, Kat. I like that."

Noble Six outstretched a hand. Kat felt her throat seize up. She tried to keep her pistol trained on Noble Six but she was forced to drop it as her hands clutched her throat and she grasped for air. Finally, the force choke brought her to her knees. Noble Six walked towards her and cupped her face in one of his hands.

"Unfortunately my dear, I can't have you standing in my way—"

Noble Six was interrupted when he was knocked back by a force push from Daemon. The armored Jedi helped Kat to her feet and the two sprinted for the opened door. As they exited with the others, the whole group made a run back to Dreshade as more blaster fire from the Sith guards flew through. One shot hit William in the leg. He gasped in pain and collapsed. Fred tried to help him up but William pushed his hand away.

"I'm not going to last much longer. You all need to go. I'll hold these bastards off."

"No William, we're not—"

William pulled Fred close to him. "Go now. Don't deny me this."

No sooner had William said that then another laser blast struck him in the back. William gasped in pain and turned around with the last of his strength, shooting down one last Sith guard before several more blaster bolts struck him in the chest. William's eyes misted over and he collapsed on the rocky ground dead.

"NOOO!" The Chief couldn't bear to see another SPARTAN be cut down. He could barely hear the other's voices in his fury and sorrow as he opened fire on the pursing Sith guards.

"Come on!" Daemon shouted. "We need to go, now!"

The Chief came back to his senses and ran with the others, leaving his fallen companion behind in the dust. The group sprinted through the halls of the Dreshade facility, ignoring the confused looks they got from everyone upon seeing five armored individuals, one middle-aged woman, and three half-naked people all running through the halls together. Finally, they came back to their ship, where Jorge was already waiting, machine-gun turret trained at the doorway.

"Come on! The Sith ships will be here any minute!"

The nine rushed on board and Jorge closed the ramp. Master Chief shouted out:

"Cortana get us out of here!"

The ship began to shake as it took off and flew out of the Dreshade port. Already charging up it's hyperdrive, the Czerka freighter blasted into lightspeed before the relentless hail from the Sith vessels orbiting Korriban could blow the freighter away.

The rescue mission was a success…at the cost of one SPARTAN-II.

Author's Note: Good G-d almighty…That. Was. Long. Took me FOREVER to finish this chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it. Things are going to heat up even more in future chapters!


	13. Chapter 13: The Ring

Chapter 13: The Ring

Chapter 13: The Ring

The stolen Czerka freighter's trip back to Mygeeto was a silent one. No one spoke, for everyone was lost in there own thoughts.

For Daemon, it was the impending threat of Revan's Sith Empire launching a final assault on Coruscant and the other Core Worlds, and him failing his mission as he had his brother. For Master Chief and the other SPARTAN-IIs, it was in sad remembrance of William, and the other SPARTANS they had lost on Reach. They had not even had a real true reunion yet, instead choosing to mourn for their fallen brothers and sisters, as well as the fact that they were quite possibly the only surviving SPARTAN-IIs...

Jun was in a perpetual state of graveness, all the while struggling to suppress the post-traumatic stress disorder that had plagued him before and was now threatening to creep up on him again after everything he'd seen and been through recently. And Kat…Kat was thinking of what she saw on Korriban…Noble Six alive…and with the Sith. She wasn't handling the double-shock as well or as professionally as she would want to, but she couldn't help it. As much as she hated herself for it, she was feeling as hurt as she had been when she had been shot in the neck back in New Alexandria, albeit a different kind of hurt. In a sense, seeing Noble Six turned into that…Sith monster, was even worse then when she had to leave him behind on Reach…

Kat almost felt a single tear escape her green eyes but she kept it in. _I'm better then this _She thought. Why did this affect her so? If it had been Emile…well, he had always been somewhat cold, and they had never been close, so that was a poor comparison. But then that got her thinking…did she really care that much for Noble Six? She thought about when the cocky-red armored SOB had first come to Reach. Carter had been glad to have the team back up to full strength, but Kat didn't share that sentiment. She wasn't ready to have someone just come in and replace Thom a mere month after his sacrifice. But she seemed to be the only one who thought that way. Jorge, like Carter, was oh, so eager to welcome a new number six. He seemed glad, and happy to have him around. Emile and Jun, the warrant officers, had both been neutral, and perhaps a little suspicious of the new Six, but once they saw him in action, whatever suspicions they may have had disappeared, replaced with respect.

But Kat remained as cold to him as ever. It wasn't until the defense of ONI: Sword Base did she at least acknowledge that he was a damn good soldier and maybe did deserve his place on the team. After her next mission with him, during the assault on the Spire, she'd finally opened up a bit. But when he saved her in New Alexandria…she remembered how he insisted on remaining as arrogant and flirtatious around her as ever. Obviously he had had no respect for the rules against military fraternization. And then she remembered when they were in Dr. Halsey's lab…he'd kissed her. Why did she let him do that? She had no idea. She also couldn't understand why she'd kissed him on Reach when he chose to stay behind…none of it made sense. She'd had a reputation for being uptight, bossy, and maybe even a bit of an ice-queen, but she didn't mind because she acknowledged it all as true. So why did she feel so strongly about him? Had he grown on her? Maybe he had…

"We're landing"

Cortana's voice on the intercom shook Kat out of her thoughts, along with everyone else. As the ship touched down on Mygeeto, they where greeted by Captain Keyes and Carth Onasi. Both looked quite grave despite seeing that the rescue mission was a success. Everyone filed out, Fred, Kelly, and Kurt forced to wear Czerka uniforms that barely fit them until something else could be found. Dr. Halsey walked up to Captain Keyes and the two old friends shook hands.

"Hello Keyes. It's been too long."

"Catherine."

Dr. Halsey turned to Carth:

"Hello again Admiral. I take it things aren't going well against the Sith?"

"No, they're not. They're pushing us into a corner. And that corner is Coruscant. In fact, aside from Mygeeto here and one or two other colonies, only Coruscant, Corellia, and Alderran remain under our control. And as far as the latter two are concerned, that isn't going to last much longer. We need to turn things around, and fast."

"Well, it just so happens, we've discovered something that might prove important."

"And what is that Jacob?"

"While it was out scouting, a Longsword patrol discovered a massive ring-shaped construct, floating in space. Upon reporting back to me, I ordered them to investigate, thinking it might be something we could use. They haven't reported back, and I'm assuming they've run into trouble. Now that the Master Chief and Blue and Noble Teams are back, I'd like them to investigate the ring and figure out what happened down there."

"While I can appreciate wanting to find out what happened to your soldiers Captain, I don't think we have time to investigate something like that. As I said, it's only a matter of time before the Sith invade Coruscant, and even though no one wants to admit it, the Chancellor tells me that's it's a complete mess over there. We don't have much time. We need to—"

"Actually, there's more to it Admiral. I've intercepted Sith communications (no easy feat I assure you) and we've learned that Darth Revan himself is investigating the ring. He apparently has a very strong interest in it. Admiral, you've suggested that killing Bastila and Darth Revan is necessary for the Republic's victory? Well this here is as good a chance as any to take the big man out."

"And who do you plan on sending Admiral? I know Revan. He's the most dangerous man in the galaxy, bar none, so I'd be careful when choosing my plan before you send any of your men to a needless death."

"We'll send a small strike team to the ring. Master Chief, and Lieutenant Commander-051 should suffice."

"You must be joking. No disrespect to your SPARTANS meant, but I don't think even they stand a chance against Revan. In fact, I'm positive."

"Only if they engage him directly. What if Revan lands on the ring? If we destroy it when he's on it, we take Revan with it. So here's the plan then: the SPARTANS will go to the ring, find a way to destroy it, and then blow it to hell before making their get-away. It's reckless, I admit, but unless you have a better plan Admiral, I think we should go with this one."

Keyes turned to Master Chief and Kurt.

"Master Chief. Lieutenant Commander. You are both aware that as far as this little gamble goes, we're only going to get one shot at this, and you two are arguably the best soldiers the SPARTAN-II program created, so if we lose you, the human race may be finished. Understood?"

"Yes sir. Don't worry. The Chief and I will get this done."

"You'd better Lieutenant Commander. The fate of _two_ galaxies depends on it."

Keyes then turned to Carth.

"Well Admiral? Yea or nay?"

Carth Onasi hesitated for a moment before remarking: "Alright captain. We'll go for your plan. I still don't like it, but it looks like our only shot at taking Revan out. But do you have a plan for how we can help repel the Sith invasion of Coruscant?"

Kat perked up. "It just so happens that I'm a bit of an expert in strategic defenses. You'll just have to show me how the Republic does things, the layout of Coruscant's defenses and major cities, and some intel on the Sith forces. I get all that, and I should be able to figure something out."

"I…see. Alright, I'll see what I can do. (The Chancellor's probably going to have a fit over this…)"

Kat smirked. It had been too long since she'd been in this position: laying out plans and strategies for winning the day. It was her favorite part of the job.

"Excellent. All right everyone. Get ready. Things are about to come to a head, and fast."

"I've really stuck my neck out for you people these last few days." Carth said. "Don't make me regret that now…"

Meanwhile, in the far reaches of the known galaxy, Darth Revan observed from the bridge of his vessel,_ The_ _Basilisk, _the massive ring-shaped construct that greeted him. _Fascinating. _He thought. In all of his years, he'd never seen anything like it. Not even the Star Forge was as strange or unusual as this. He was pulled out of his observation and thoughts by a transmission from the Covenant capital ship.

"Revan, this is Supreme Commander Thel 'Vadamee'. If the holy scriptures and the Prophet's teachings are true, which they undoubtedly are, then what we are looking at is one of the sacred rings. It must be seized and activated for the Covenant."

Revan raised an eyebrow underneath his mask.

"Excuse me?"

"Activated. To begin the Great Journey. The holy trek into divine salvation that the Covenant have so long fought for. We have waited thousands of years for this. The time has at last come!"

"I…see. Very well Supreme Commander. We shall land on the ring together. I will get the information I seek, and your Covenant will at last have its "Great Journey"."

Revan ended the transmission and then fought the urge to roll his eyes. In truth, Revan thought this "Great Journey" was utter nonsense, but given how fragile his alliance with the Covenant was, he knew it was wise to play along for now. Deception could be such a useful tool sometimes, although Revan did not like to rely solely on it. Loyalty, of both the blind and idealistic varieties, he found to be much more preferable…

Neither Revan nor any of the Sith or Covenant that landed on the ring however, knew that another ship was discreetly making its way there as well. And on it were a certain pair of SPARTAN-IIs and Smart AI…

"It was certainly nice of that Daemon guy to lend us his ship."

"Yeah. Don't forget he said he wanted it back it one piece."

"Of course. Where's your faith in me Chief? I thought I'd earned it by now…"

Cortana's voice came on over the com:

"We're closing in for a landing…"

"Solid copy, Miss Cortana."

The _Silent Star _slowly made its way down to the odd-looking ring in space, none of the three passengers even able to fathom what could have possibly created something like it. The sight only became even more baffling upon seeing the ring's surface. It was covered in beautiful valleys, mountains, and other scenery. The SPARTANS found the sight reminded them a great deal of Earth as well as the colonies they had grown up on. As the ship began to land, Cortana asked the question on both of the SPARTANS minds:

"I wonder who could have possibly built this…"

"Don't know, but as far as the captain is concerned, it's gonna disappear real soon…"

"It's a shame…it would have been so good to know who built this and what it's for…"

"Yes, well, that's not going to happen…"

"Well, at least let me try and analyze what I can before you and the Chief blow this ring to—wait…"

"What is it Cortana?"

"I'm picking up a ton of Covenant chatter. More then I've ever had to deal with before. I'm estimating at least half of the Covenant fleet is here at this ring along with Revan's flagship."

"Well, that raises the stakes of our gamble considerably…"

"Yeah, and there's more: based on the Covenant chatter, it appears this ring resembles something sacred to their religion. In other words: there's no way they're going to give it up without a fight."

"When have they ever given up anything without a fight?"

"I'm just saying. They're really going to give you two hell down there. Are you sure you're ready yet? What am I saying? You've always been ready, am I right?"

"You read us like a book miss Cortana" Kurt replied.

"All right then. Kurt, take the ship down to the surface of the ring. We're taking this ring down, and the Sith and Covenant along with it."

"Got it Chief"

Kurt took the _Silent Star _down lower and lower into the ring's atmosphere until it finally came to a landing. The ramp was lowered and out came Kurt and the Master Chief, the latter with Cortana back in his head. No sooner had they departed from their ship did they discover a wrecked Longsword fighter.

"Oh, that's not good…"

"Cortana, can you pinpoint any Marine distress calls?"

"Searching….I'm getting nothing from anything of the Longswords, so I'm going to assume they all ended up like this one. As for survivors…wait…yes, I'm picking something up. It's a small group of marines, part of Sergeant Johnson's company. They're holed up in some type of ruins at the other end of this valley. Since I know neither one of you want to hoof it there, I thought I'd let you know that there's a still-operational warthog near that ruined Longsword."

"Thanks. Come on Kurt, we should hurry to where Johnson and company are. I don't want to leave them here when this ring gets destroyed."

The Master Chief and Kurt made their way to the Warthog. Kurt took the turret while Master Chief took the wheel. They drove off, heading to the sight of the distress signals. The path to the signal took them to a massive set of ruins, where dead Grunts, Jackals, and Elites already littered the surrounding area. There was a pair of dead marines there as well.

"Looks like they put up one hell of a fight…" Kurt muttered as they drove around to see if Sergeant Johnson and company where still there. They found three marines, tending to a fourth who was wounded, but none of them where Sergeant Johnson. The group's corporal looked up and saw the SPARTANS coming his way.

"Thank G-d! _Two_ SPARTANS! And with a warthog no less! Our luck's changing boys!"

"Where is Sergeant Johnson?" The Master Chief asked.

"Well, uh…the thing is…we weren't with the Sarge when we got into the Longswords. We took a different one. We've kind of been scattered all over the place, and Sergeant Johnson and a few others ended up in another area of the ring last we saw of them. Their Longsword was the last one to go down. We saw it crash somewhere over those mountains. If the Sergeant or any of the others survived, my guess is they're somewhere in that area. But…uh, no offense, you're not going to get over those mountains in a warthog."

"All right then. We'll need to get back to the ship…"

The Marine corporal turned his attention to an incoming Spirit as the Master Chief said this.

"They're coming back!" The corporal shouted to his men "They're coming back!"

The Spirit opened fire with its cannons before unleashing scores of Grunts and Elites. The marine corporal clambered into the passenger seat of the Warthog and Master Chief gunned forward, running over an unfortunate Grunt that couldn't get out of the way in time. Kurt let loose with the warthog's machine gun turret, cutting down more Grunts as well as an Elite. The Marine corporal provided covering fire from the passenger seat as the other marines remained at their positions, all desperately opening fire on the Grunts and Elites that came their way. Finally, the SPARTANS made it back to the _Silent Star_, which still hadn't been discovered by the Sith or Covenant forces. Master Chief, Kurt, and the corporal got out of the Warthog and rushed back onto the ship. _The Silent Star _took off and raced past the nearby Spirits, first picking up the other marines before then heading over the mountains to where Johnson's Longsword had supposedly crashed. Sure enough, the _Silent Star _soon discovered the ruins of a Longsword fighter on the beach.

"There it is sirs. Look, over there, there's another structure. That's where Johnson and his men would have gone."

"Thank you corporal. Take us down Kurt."

Kurt landed _The Silent Star _on the beach, and he and Master Chief got out. The Chief turned to the Marines:

"Stay with the ship, and do not touch anything."

"Understood sir."

Master Chief and Kurt left the marines behind and made their way across the beach to a large metal door. The door automatically opened for them as they got close. The two SPARTANS exchanged a brief glance before they decided to move in together, with Kurt in the lead.

They went through a series of winding corridors and passageways, until they at last arrived at a massive chamber, with a pathway to a set of double-doors covered by a roof and walls. Overhead were several large metal beams.

"Holy Shoot…this is some place…" Kurt muttered

"Any idea what this is Cortana?"

"You're kidding right?"

"Just making sure…"

The two moved through the passageway. They went through the double-doors and took a lift that was waiting there for them. As it descended, Master Chief remarked:

"I don't like this…"

"What's wrong Chief?" Cortana asked.

"This. Walking blindly through a place that we don't understand, that's on a giant ring that we don't understand. I just have the gut feeling that things aren't going to end well…"

"Gut feeling eh? Well, given how much of a born survivor you are, maybe I shouldn't take that warning lightly…don't worry Chief, we should be fine. We are the two best soldiers in the UNSC after all."

Master Chief didn't respond. The lift came to a halt and the two SPARTANS exited. They continued on without a word, navigating through several large rooms and many more smaller rooms that where filled with empty shade turrets, discarded weapons, and dead bodies that were both Covenant...and Marine. Now the SPARTANS were getting uneasy. Where were Sergeant Johnson and his men? Johnson wasn't among the dead, so the Chief silently hoped that he was still alive. Kurt could tell how concerned the Chief was despite his head-to-toe armor masking any signs of worry. He knew that the Chief and Johnson were tight, and that he didn't want to see the good sergeant die here...

They kept moving. There was an eerie atmosphere to the place, helped in that regard by the corpses, but none of this was anything that was new to the SPARTANS, so they continued on, doing their best to remain unfazed. Then, upon entering the next corridor, they saw something truly repulsive: slime that was a disgusting yellowish-green vomit-like color lining the walls and floor. The two SPARTANS couldn't identify it, but they didn't like the look of it. Kurt attempted to break the tension with a bad joke

"You think some of the marines lost their lunch?"

It didn't help.

The two navigated through the chamber, _very_ slowly and carefully, before finding another door. A small part of Master Chief's brain was telling him that he shouldn't open it, but he'd stopped listening to that small part of his brain years ago. The part of his brain that was his fear and his doubt. So the Chief opened the door, and he and Kurt went through the corridors. There was more of the disgusting slime, and the eerie silence only added to the tension that was beginning to unnerve the SPARTANS, even though they didn't show it. Finally, they went through another door…

They were greeted with a room covered in both the slime, and blood. Some of the former was actually dripping from the ceiling. The room had been blasted with gunfire and scorch marks, suggesting a battle. In the corner, was a marine without the armored parts of his uniform, shaking like crazy, and holding a pistol. Upon seeing the two SPARTANS, the marine began to shoot at them. The two SPARTANS instinctively fell back as he fired. As they did, the marine shouted:

"STAY BACK! YOU'RE NOT TURNING ME INTO ONE OF THOSE THINGS!"

The marine fired his pistol again. As he did, he continued to rant, shouting like a complete madman.

"I'll blow your brains out! Get away from me!"

The Chief shouted over to Kurt.

"What the hell is wrong with him?"

"Must have cracked. I'll figure it out Chief. I'm good with marines. Just let me do the talking…"

Kurt walked over to the marine slowly, his DMR shouldered. Upon seeing him, the Marine went ballistic and started shooting at him and screaming his head off. Kurt closed the distance between them quickly and grabbed the Marine's pistol hand.

"GAAAAAHH! AAAAAAHH! Don't touch me, you freaks, I won't be like you, I'll die first!"

"Listen to me! We're your friends! We're not going to hurt you! We're here to help you!"

"NO! NEVER! YOU'RE HERE FOR ME! YOU'RE HE—"

"Soldier, I am a SPARTAN, and a Lieutenant Commander in the UNSC. Now are you going to listen to me, or am I going to have to talk to the sarge?"

The marine stopped struggling upon hearing Kurt mention Sergeant Johnson. He gave up his pistol without a fight. He muttered as Kurt took it.

"Sarge…Mendoza…Bisenti…Oh, G-d... the things took them, oh G-d, I can still hear them..." The Marine began to sob, before then shouting:

"THEY'RE GONE! Get it? GONE!"

"What happened soldier?

"They…they came out of nowhere…it…it was horrible…I…I ran. I just ran like hell. I think they got all the others…" 

"What? The Covenant?"

"No…not Covenant…definitely not Covenant. Covvie bastards were killed too…"

"Then what? Please soldier, I need to know…"

"They're still there!" The marine pointed to the door next to him.

"Behind that door! It's a nightmare…"

"I…see. Thank you very much soldier…"

"PLAY DEAD! That's what I did after I ran…played dead. They took the live ones... oh G-d, I can still hear them!"

"Hear what? What attacked you and the Covenant soldier?"

"Ahhhhhh! Ahhhhaaahhh...JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Kurt sighed and walked over to the Master Chief as the Marine went back to sobbing.

"Well, I couldn't get much from him, but he says that something attacked him, the other marines, _and_ the Covenant. Probably also what's causing all this damn slime if I had to guess. He says that whatever they are, they're still beyond that door…"

The two SPARTANS went silent for a moment as Master Chief pondered what Kurt had told him. So something had attacked both the marines and the Covenant…and driven one marine to insanity. Neither SPARTAN was sure what could possibly do that…

"Cortana, do you think it might be natives of this ring?"

"That would be my best guess. Whatever they where, they must have been pretty damn terrible to make that marine lose his mind like that…"

"Well Chief? Should we go through? I mean whatever's back there…"

Master Chief thought about it. He didn't know what to say. There was obviously something on this ring that was unlike anything he had ever seen before, and it was clearly dangerous. And yet, so much was at stake…no. He couldn't let anything like this get in the way.

"We've come this far. It's too late to go back now. Let's go through that door."

Kurt nodded. Master Chief opened the door and he and Kurt went through another corridor. At the end was another door. They approached it, with Master Chief first cautiously listening to any movement on the other side. He heard nothing, so he opened the door. Upon doing so, a dead Marine fell into his arms. Both he and Kurt were a little taken-aback.

"What the hell?"

Master Chief advanced a few paces, placed the body on the floor gently, turned to Kurt, and gave a nod. Kurt took that as a sign to keep going, and the two went through the passage. They saw another large room that had human blood all over the floor. Also on the floor were assault rifles, magnums, and even a shotgun. Master Chief picked up the latter and, as he reloaded it, noticed a marine helmet lying on the floor. Master Chief, crouching, moved swiftly towards it, and picked it up. The name "Jenkins" was stamped across it, and there was a large, jagged hole punched through the top of it. The Master Chief examined the helmet more closely and noticed something. He turned to Kurt.

"The helmet recorder is still intact."

"Well, insert the recorder chip into my helmet then, and we'll see what it's all about. Who knows? Maybe we can find out what the hell happened here…"

The Master Chief nodded and inserted the recorder chip into Kurt's helmet…

"All right Chief, the recording's playing…."

_Open Record View (2:52:56 L). _

_Pvt. Jenkins, Wallace A._

Kurt made a mental note that "Jenkins" had gotten the date wrong. It was September, not May. He told the recorder to play.He saw the Helmet cam view with the night vision enabled. A Marine, who Kurt assumed was Jenkins, looked around the inside of a Longsword. There were several other Marines inside with him. Flip music (Sergeant Johnson's favorite, if Kurt remembered correctly) was blaring over the cabin speakers, much to some of the other marine's great chagrin.

_"Why do we always have to listen to this old stuff, Sarge?" _One of the marines whined

_"Watch your mouth, son. This "stuff" is your history. It should remind you grunts what we're fightin' to protect." _

_"Hey... if the Covenant wanna wipe out this particular part of my history, that's fine by me." _

"_Yeah... " _A marine with an Italian accent added. "_Better it than us."_

_"You ask 'em __real__ nice next time you see 'em, Bisenti. I'm sure they'll be happy to oblige." _

A shock ripped through the vessel, jolting everyone, including Jenkins. The pilot's voice could be heard. _"That's it! That was the last shot we could take! I have to set her down. There's an LZ over the mountains. Looks clear enough, I'm bringing us down there!"_

"_Copy that." _Johnson said. _"Alright, Marines, brace for a rough landing!" _

The ship did indeed land roughly. Crash-landed to be precise. Kurt decided to fast-forward through that. When he resumed, he saw the marines go through the same structure he and the Chief were currently in.

_"Stay close, Jenkins!" _The sergeant ordered.

The marines reached the entrance to another room and swept their weapons across, clearly nervous about what they might find on the other side.

_"Mendoza!_" The Sergeant ordered _"Move it up!"_

"Mendoza" obliged, advancing with his assault rifle at the ready. Johnson turned to Jenkins:

_"Wait here for when the captain sends backup, and get your ass inside." _

_"Sir!" _

_"Okay, let's move!" _

The group advanced further in. Once again, Kurt fast-forwarded, skipping through them navigating through all the rooms he and the Chief had already gone through. When he resumed, the squad was standing around a dead Elite minor, its chest torn wide open. Another marine was examining another dead Elite in the corner of the screen. Kurt found himself wondering how he and the Chief had missed those bodies.

_"-which is weird, right? I mean... look at it" _The marine prodded the Elite with his foot. _"Something... __scrambled__ the insides." _

_"What's that?" _Johnson asked. _"Plasma scarring?"_

_"Yeah... I dunno. Maybe there was an accident. You know, friendly fire or something?" _

"_We'd better keep moving."_

The squad finally arrived at the very same door Kurt and the Chief had just come through.

"_All right. Let's get this door open. Once we're done sweeping this facility, we'll settle down and make camp. And hope the captain sends someone to save our asses."_

_"I'll try, sir. But it looks like these Covenant worked pretty hard to lock it down." _

_"Just do it, son." _Johnson ordered impatiently.

_"Yes, sir." _

The Marine removed a door-opening device called "a Spoofer" from his pocket and stuck it to the door. He punched a few keys, and the door opened. A marine took point through the door, Jenkins close behind him, and the rest of the squad fanning out around him. An odd rumbling sound was heard as all of this happened.

_"I've got a bad feeling about this..." _Mendoza muttered.

_"Boy, you always got a bad feelin' about __something__-" _Sergeant Johnson retorted.

A marine's voice came on over the COM:

_"- Sarge __(static)__ can you hear me?" _

_"What's going on, soldier?" _

The corporal continued, clearly panicked. _"We've got contacts...lots of 'em...but they're not Covenant...they're just tearing through us...what the?...ooooohhh...nooooo!" _Strange gurgling noises could be heard in the background as the channel went dead.

_"Corporal? Do you copy, over?" _

There was no response.

_"Mendoza, get your ass back up to Second Squad's position, and find out what the __**hell**____is goin' on." _

_"But, si-" _

_"I don't have time for your lip, soldier! I gave you an order!" _

A strange noise could be heard.

_"Sarge! Listen!" _

The odd hissing noise grew louder and louder. All of the marines scanned the room, trying to find the source of the strange sounds.

_"What is __**that**__?" _

_"Where's that coming from, Mendoza?" _

_"Everywhere... I don't-there! __**¡Mira!**_"

Mendoza pointed to a nearby door, which had just exploded outwards. Small squid-like creatures swarmed outward from it. One of the creatures lunged at a marine, sticking itself to his chest.

_"Ahh... augh! Get it off! Get it off- augh!" _

The marine fell to the ground, the creature appearing to try and burrow into the man's chest. Another marine tried to pull it off of him.

_"Hold still, hold still!" _

Finally, the marine pulled the creature off of his fellow soldier, whose body went limp. However, the creature now attempted to attach itself to that marine as more of the little monsters swarmed all over the place.

_"LET 'EM HAVE IT!" _Sergeant Johnson ordered.

The Marines all opened fire, to little effect. The creatures were now all around them.

_"Sergeant, we're surrounded!" _

"**D**_**ammit**_, Jenkins! Fire your weapon!"

_"There are too many, Sarge!" _Mendoza shouted.

_"Don't even __**think**__ about it, Marine!" _

But Mendoza had apparently decided that he'd seen enough. He limped over to the door, shouting: "Yo, this is loco!"

_"Get back here, Marine! That's an order!" _

The Marine squad began to get overrun, still firing, while their blood sprayed out as the creatures continued to crawl onto them. Several of them attacked Jenkins, blocking his helmet cam. Sergeant Johnson's voice could be heard as this was happening.

_"Jenkins!" _

The screen blacked out. The following appeared on the screen after about a second_: __Unexpected Halt X (WIA/INCAP/KIA? Ref.a4 3d.3) _

_End Record View (2:39:23 L) _

Kurt took the chip out of his helmet. As a SPARTAN, and one of the most high-ranked SPARTANS at that, he didn't like to think that he could be easily unnerved. But that…that was unlike anything he had ever seen in his life. And for the first time in years, he was scared.

"Chief…this. Isn't. Good."

"What? What did you see?"

"The marines…they were attacked by some strange-looking creatures. Overrun to be exact."

"And the Sergeant?"

"I don't know Chief, but it looked bad. I think we may want to consider-"

A horrific gurgling sound could be heard. As well as what sounded like some horrible creature screaming. The locked door at the end of the room was blasted down and out came a swarm of the same squid-like creatures Kurt had seen on the recording. He turned to the Chief:

"Gun those things down!"

Master Chief let loose with his assault rifle, its spray of bullets destroying all of the creatures in one fell swoop. More came swarming in, and they too were cut down. Master Chief didn't bother to ask what they were. He already knew these where the same creatures Kurt had seen on the recording, and what had driven that marine insane. And so, the two SPARTANS made their way into the next room, assault rifles at the ready, when they came under attack from more of the squid-like creatures. And they were not alone.

Accompanying the little creatures were large hulking monsters that the two SPARTANS could only describe as Zombie-esque. Many were human, either Marines or Sith Troopers. Others wore the same armor as the Sith Troopers but were aliens of various kinds. And some were a little hard to identify, but seemed to resemble heavily deformed Elites.

"What in G-d's name are these things?"

"Don't know…"

Master Chief blasted one of the monsters away at point-blank range with his shotgun.

"But they're not friendly."

What followed was a desperate battle between the two SPARTANS and a swarm of monsters the likes of which they had never seen before. Beings of various species, twisted and mutated into hideous caricatures of what they once were. Small wonder that marine back there had lost his mind. Kurt was a little horrified himself.

It didn't take the SPARTANS long to learn that only the shotgun and plasma weaponry were effective against the monsters, so Kurt swapped out his assault rifle and DMR for a dead marine's shotgun and two plasma rifles he'd taken from a mutated Elite. The two SPARTANS fought back-to-back, desperately trying to ward off the monsters that were encircling them and closing in fast…

Out of nowhere appeared several floating machines. They unleashed orange-colored laser blasts on the monsters, which cut them down in short order. Among these machines was a floating orb, with a single glowing purple "eye" in its center. The machine looked at the two SPARTANS, and then, all of a sudden, they were teleported away.

The two SPARTANS ended up in an entirely different room. The strange orb was there along with…the SPARTANS couldn't believe it. Darth Revan himself was standing there, arms crossed, with a pair of Sith Troopers at his side. The orb turned to the two SPARTANS:

"Greetings reclaimers. I am so sorry that we had to meet under these circumstances. I am 5899 Rueful Sentry. I am the Monitor of this installation. Installation 08 to be precise. I require your assistance in containing this outbreak."

"Outbreak? Outbreak of what?"

"Why, The Flood, of course."

**Author's Note: Another long one! I shamelessly copied scenes from Halo: Combat Evolved, including the Flood introduction scene in this chapter, as anyone who has played that game will know. I couldn't help myself. I love that scene. I hope you enjoyed all the same.**


	14. Chapter 14: The Invasion of Coruscant

Chapter 14: The Invasion of Coruscant

Things had gone to hell so fast that everyone's heads were spinning.

The crews of the _Pillar of Autumn _and _The Glorious Savior _had had just had enough time to get back to Coruscant and inform the Supreme Chancellor and the top Military heads of their strategies for the defense of Coruscant. Their urgency made it clear that they didn't have time to tell the Senate and the Jedi Council everything that had transpired in the last few days. Only that the UNSC and Covenant forces weren't from around their corner of the galaxy and that the UNSC was there to help. The senate wisely chose to keep the UNSC's exact origins ambiguous to prevent any further uproar.

Kat and General Luane were in charge of laying out the battle-plans and managing the defenses of the city. Whatever was left of the Republic Fleet was now in orbit over Coruscant, effectively abandoning the other planets, which were already as good as gone. The combined fleet was actually larger then Kat had predicted, and made an effective barrier around the planet. That said though, Kat still knew the situation was a dire one. As a precaution, some of the vessels were on evacuation duty, ready to airlift civilians to safety once things got really ugly and the cities started burning to the ground. Needless to say, the whole planet, the capital city especially, was in a total panic. The security forces on the ground were doing their best to keep things under control, but people were still causing a fuss and riots were actually starting to take place all over the city, leading to more chaos.

Kat sighed. None of this was new to her, but that didn't mean that it wasn't exasperating to deal with. And not to mention that whenever the Covenant attacked a human colony they were usually just a bit more organized when it came to civilian evac. Not here though. This was obviously a planet that had never had to worry about invasion before. Or at least it hadn't worried about it for some time. But now one was staring them down.

"_At this rate_," Kat thought, "_…they'll kill us all just by letting us tear one another apart…."_

The defenses were set up according to Kat and General Luane's exact specifications. Needless to say, Coruscant's defenses where far from modest. For starters, they had AA defense turrets situated in key locations all over the planet, especially in the capital city and especially in important buildings like the Senate and the Jedi Temple. The latter was also defended by the Jedi that resided there. And much like the rest of the planet, the Jedi where busy with their own evacuation, ferrying away to safety the younglings and especially important instructors who could not be lost. The Jedi's own personal squads of starfighters stood guard over the temple as well, and they also had their own security forces. They were all set for the upcoming invasion.

There was at least one Republic corvette to back up each turret. The majority of the ground forces, Republic Soldier and Marine alike, where also situated in these areas and anywhere else the Sith and Covenant were likely to strike first. The idea was to go from a "united we stand" defense to a "divide and conquer" offense. The majority of the planet's defenses would initially concentrate themselves all in one area and once the Sith and Covenant spread themselves thin across the planet, various chunks of the ground forces would split up and do the same, in the hopes of taking down as much opposition as possible.

But all of this was just the ground defense. None of it was going to matter unless the fleet vessels were taken out to cut off the Sith and Covenant's reinforcement flow. To this end, the _Pillar of Autumn _was leading a small group of Republic _Hammerhead_-class capital ships along with over two dozen different squads of fighters that were to assault several of the Capital ships directly and find a way to bring them down. The key was that the capital ships would engage in a ship Vs ship battle with the Sith vessels while the fighter squads took advantage of the distraction, went in, and brought the vessels down from the inside. A SPARTAN-II and a squad of Republic commandos would be leading each of the infiltration teams that were made up of Sabre fighters while Jedi Knights led the infiltration teams led by Republic Snub fighter squads. Kat trusted them all to get the job done, and also hoped that history didn't repeat itself with Jorge…

She, meanwhile, would help lead the ground forces while Jun and Linda led the forces defending her base of operations. It was Kat's job to keep in contact with all of the SPARTANS, ship admirals, and squad leaders and commanders and relay new strategies and orders to them all whenever the situation called for it. A tedious, stressful job, but not one she wasn't unused to.

Kat closed her green eyes wearily. She didn't want to admit it, but all of this was beginning to eat at her. And she knew that it wasn't the stress either. The stress was something she had grown to live with and weather whenever needed. No, it had to do with Six….

Kat slammed her fist down on the table hard. _Dammit! Why do I care so much about him! _She'd never cared this much about anyone before, not even Commander Carter, who she'd respected as a leader, a confidante, and something more….

She heard General Luane enter the room at that moment. She turned to face him:

"What is it?"

"They're here. The Sith fleet is here, along with the Covenant."

"Then it's time to begin."

If any one soul on Coruscant had any doubts at all about the severity of what was coming their way, it was laid to rest upon the arrival of the Sith and the Covenant fleets. Capital ships from both groups numbered in the dozens. Fleets of Phantoms, Spirits, Banshees, Seraphs, and Sith gunships and fighters swarmed in, practically blotting out the sun. Covenant corvettes and Sith frigates descended as well, ready to rain death on the skyscrapers below. Scarabs were unleashed into the cities. And of course, out of all these vehicles came legions upon legions of Grunts, Jackals, Brutes, Hunters, Drones, Elites of every rank and type, Sith Troopers, grenadiers, heavies, and elites, Sith Apprentices, Dark Jedi, and Sith War-droids, all accompanied by Ghosts, Wraiths, Spectres, and Revenants. General Luane and Kat could see it all from their building.

"Holy…"

Kat gave the order to all of the fleet admirals.

"Launch the strike force now!"

"Solid copy ma'am, OPERATION: SHATTERPOINT is good to go."

-X-

The _Pillar of Autumn _(With Captain Keyes still at the helm) directed the charge with over half-a-dozen _Hammerhead-_class cruisers right behind. The nearby Sith capital ships engaged them immediately. Keyes issued out a broadcast:

"Attention all squads, we are engaging the Sith vessels, and we've begun OPERATION: SHATTERPOINT. All squad leaders please check in."

"Copy that. This is Red Leader standing by"

"All right. This is Green Leader standing by"

"Echo Leader standing by"

"Gold Leader good to go"

"We're all dead, but this is Gray Leader standing by"

"Bravo Leader checking in"

"Mammoth Leader standing by"

"Blue Leader ready to rock."

"Solid copy, all squads are moving into position. Watch out for enemy fighters, and AA guns."

The squads of Republic Snub Fighters and UNSC Pelicans and Sabres engaged the fleet of Sith fighters in some intense dogfighting. Though the Sith fighters were thoroughly pathetic ships, not even able to take a glancing shot without blowing up, there were a lot of them, and they were backed up by more formidable Sith vessels, as well as the capital ship's vicious AA turrets. As the fighter squads engaged, one of said turrets got off a lucky shot, striking Blue Leader's ship. The vessel spiraled out of control before exploding into a fireball.

"This is Gray Leader, Blue Leader has been KIA. I told you all, we're screw—"

Gray Leader swerved his ship out of the way of a Sith fighter's laser fire. Another pair of Sith fighters managed to destroy Gray Six.

"Dammitt! This is Gray Leader, my squad's under fire, we're gonna have to break off and take em' out"

"Copy that Gray Leader. Green squad is moving in to cover you."

The dogfighting continued, and casualties mounted on both sides. Green three couldn't outrun a Sith fighter and was shot out of the sky. Gray Two was shot and collided with Gray Three, destroying both fighters. And the amount of destroyed Sith fighters increased as well, only for yet more to replace them. Blue Two thought as he saw:

"_In space, no one can hear you scream…"_

And then he was shot down too.

Meanwhile, on the bridge of the Covenant Super-Carrier _Righteous Fury_, the Elite fleetmaster in charge of the ground assault watched the conflict begin. Already, the brightly lit planet was becoming more brightly lit still, by the fires of war. Next to him stood his reluctant partner in leading the ground assault; a Jiralhanae Chieftain named Commodus.

"Hmmm…" The Chieftain grumbled. "It would seem that this is to be an especially bloody day, eh, Eturb?"

The Elite General turned to regard Revotus. Eturb 'Saronee was fairly large by Elite standards, and it helped him give off an especially intimidating presence, helped by a Brute's skull stuck to one of his shoulder pauldrons, something Commodus had actually not yet commented on.

"Yes indeed." Eturb responded. "This will be a glorious day for our Covenant. We shall slay countless human vermin today, and a mere handful of days after laying waste to their capital world no less. I also hear from the Supreme Commander that a sacred ring has just been discovered."

Commodus raised an eyebrow. "A sacred ring? Here?"

"Yes. The Great Journey is at hand. The Supreme Commander will activate the ring, and we shall destroy these humans. Our Covenant will at last get what we so deserve."

Commodus grunted in acknowledgement. "Yes, yes. Anything to crush a few more human vermin under my foot. And I know you think the same."

Eturb growled. It was true, but he didn't like to admit it. Vicious as he was, he was still at least part Sangheili, and a high-ranking Sangheili at that. It lent a certain dignity and sense of pride and honor that he did not want to ignore in favor of pure bloodlust. Unlike those filthy Brutes…

_The Righteous Fury_ entered the planet's atmosphere, staying back though to avoid the brunt of the planetary defense's punishment. Eturb issued commands to all of his men via a fleet broadcast:

"BROTHERS! Sangheili! Jiralhanae! Malekegolo! Unggoy! Kig-Yar! The time for our final victory has come at last! The Great Journey is upon us! Only these humans remain to be cleansed! So march forth, and leave _none_ alive! TO WAR MY BROTHERS!"

Commodus grunted. "You always were a bombastic one…"

Eturb turned to Commodus. "I simply remind them what they fight for. And you too."

Commodus merely growled in response.

-X-

The ground assault was now in full force, and the once proud city streets of Coruscant were running with the blood of dozens of different species. Republic soldiers, backed up by marines, were doing their best to fend off the swarms of Sith military forces backed up by hundreds of Covenant troops of various species. Thankfully (or perhaps not) most dark force users were attacking the Jedi Temple and other top-priority targets, making life just a smidgen easier for the Republic and UNSC infantry, who wouldn't have stood a chance against them.

It was still an absolute bloodbath though, and the fighting in the streets was the worst. The place was always considered to be home to Coruscant's less desirable elements, and while even the most hardened criminals were smart enough to know better than to pick a fight or cause trouble while there was a planetary invasion taking place, there were civilians that still needed to be evacuated down there that hadn't made it to the ships. The problem was that they were unorganized, swarming in a messy, uncoordinated surge. It was all the soldiers could do to both keep the civilians alive _and_ fend off the Sith and Covenant forces. The soldiers and marines still fought hard though, bludgeoning foes to death with the butt ends of their rifles, letting loose with grenades…One soldier knocked an Elite to the ground and pumped it full of blaster fire. Another Republic Soldier also managed to kill an Elite, frying his shields with a grenade and then shooting him in the head.

"I got one! I got one!" The soldier failed to hear a strange cry of anguish until it was too late.

"Wait, what in the name of-?"

The Suicide Grunt ran right into the soldier, blowing both of them away.

"Suicide Grunts! Take em' down the moment you see em'!"

"They usually do that whenever you kill a Brute or Elite in front of em'." A Marine explained to a nearby Republic officer.

The Republic Soldiers followed their Marine ally's advice as the fighting continued. The Covenant fought ferociously against the marines and Republic soldiers, killing several by Plasma Rifle, Needler, Spiker, Energy Sword, and Plasma Grenade, among numerous other weapons. So great was their hatred for humans that they where viciously going after any and every human they could find, killing both human soldiers and civilians without mercy. The two Sith Captains leading the forces in the area observed with sadistic interest.

"Look at them…tearing through those soldiers. Such skill and ferocity. They're amazing…"

"Indeed they are. I don't think I've ever seen our troopers fight like **that**."

"Yes…but they really do seem to hate us humans…they mercilessly butcher them exclusively. So why do they work with us?"

"You doubt our Lord Revan's power? He has used the Force and his powers of persuasion to manipulate these beasts. They do not know it, but they are little more than slaves to his whim, and by that extension, _our_ whim."

"Ha! With an army of these things plus the Star Forge and the Dark Side, who could possibly defeat us?"

"NO ONE of course!"

The two captains laughed. Still, the soldiers and marines fought as fiercely as they could, many willingly giving their lives to buy more civilians time to escape as the Covenant and Sith pressed on. Ghosts were speeding forward, ramming into enemy soldiers and letting loose with their twin plasma cannons, Drones swooped in and carried Republic soldiers and marines to what was likely a very unfortunate fate before being driven off with gun and blaster fire, and Wraiths were raining death down on the Republic and UNSC forces with their mortar cannons…

On the many bridges that went from one skyscraper to another, Covenant and Sith forces advanced on one end while the Republic and the UNSC attempted a valiant defense on the other side. A shot down Pelican plummeted and rammed right into one of said bridges, completely destroying it. On others, the Republic manned turrets in the hopes of giving them additional firepower, only for the Sith and Covenant forces to let loose with rocket launchers, fuel rod guns, and thermal detonators.

Above, more and more Sith and Covenant vessels descended, and the AA defenses were hard-pressed to shoot them all down. Protecting the Senate building were eight AA turrets, four lined up on each side. Leading the defense, situated at the entrance of the building was none other then Gunnery Sergeant Pete Stacker. He issued orders to his marines and the Republic commandos backing them up in his thick southern accent:

"All right boys and girls, check your weapons, and keep those turrets on the Sith an' Covenant vessels. We need to hold this building!"

Another Phantom exploded under the hail of turret-fire. Unfortunately, an orbiting Interdoctpr-Class Sith capital ship, _The Kraken_, advanced on the building, opening fire on the area, and destroying two of the AA guns.

"Ah crap. Senate defense to command, Sith Capital ship is raining hell on us! We need that Ion cannon, fired now, on my command, over!"

"Copy that Senate defense. The Ion Cannon is standing by and is at your command."

"Fire the Ion Cannon, over."

"Firing Ion Cannon... Shot."

But alas, the shot did no good. _The Kraken _resumed its fire on the area, its goal all along to destroy the Senate building. Seeing the bombardment coming, Stacker ordered his men to fall back. The sergeant hopped into a warthog and a Republic commando clambered into the passenger seat. As Stacker's forces evacuated, they just barely missed _The Krakens_ devastating barrage…

The senate building was obliterated. Large chunks of debris flew everywhere, some crushing a few unlucky marines to death, as well as a mongoose that was also fleeing the scene.

"Damn, how do ya stop that thing?"

-X-

Back in space, OPERATION: SHATTERPOINT was still underway. Both Blue and Green squads had lost a few more fighters, and now one of the Republic vessels was blown away.

"This is Gold Leader, we're going in!"

"Negative Gold Leader, do not advance, we can't cover you—"

But Gold leader didn't listen. He, and Golds 2 and 3 flew in as fast as they could, opening fire on the Sith fighters that came their way. Seeing that some of their enemies were getting bold, the nearest Sith capital ship, _The Hydra, _directed it's AA guns at the three snub fighters. Gold Three was quickly shot out of the sky.

"Lenter!"

"Keep moving Gold Two, we're almost the—Agh!"

Gold Leader was shot down as well.

"Captain!"

Meanwhile, the Sabre squads Mammoth squad and Bravo squad had finally managed to reach their destinations in one piece, _The Cyclops _and _The Chimera, _respectively. The second they landed, both squads disembarked from their vessels and made their way to the hangars to clear them out.

"This is Chief Warrant Officer 052. Me and my boys are in. How about you Fred?"

"We're in Jorge. But Kelly still needs to board one of the other main vessels…"

"Don't worry Fred, Kelly's the fastest one of us, she'll get it done."

"I hope so Jorge…"

Back down below, Kat was directing the defense of the planet from the Chancellor's skyscraper. Jun and Linda were perched on a balcony, providing sniper fire for the forces down below desperately guarding the bridge to the tower, and challenging one another to see who could get more kills. So far, Linda was leading 30 to 27. Both SPARTANS of course knew the situation was nothing to joke about or take lightly, but this was how they coped with the severity of the situation.

"Ha ha! Got another one. That brings the score to 28!"

"I've got 34."

"Damn. No way are you outscoring me…"

Jun fired a shot at an explosive container near some advancing Covenant, killing a trio of grunts and just as many Sith Troopers. He smiled underneath his helmet. Linda turned to him:

"That still only counts as one hotshot."

"Of course it does…"

Meanwhile, Kat was surveying the damage, providing back-up plans to various groups, and assessing the current damage and losses. Then she heard Sergeant Stacker's report:

"We lost the Senate Building ma'am, Sith vessel pounded the hell outta the place. Most of my men managed to fall back in time, but now we've got Sith and Covenant coming in from all sides. We're going to meet up with the bottom ground forces, see if we can't help in civilian evac…"

"Understood Gunnery Sergeant. I'll keep in touch."

Kat sighed deeply. Things were falling apart much faster then she'd anticipated. What was going on? The obvious explanation of course, was that she had severely underestimated just how tactically skilled the Sith forces were, but that seemed unlikely. She had never been wrong about these sort of things before… so what was it…?

Meanwhile, the ground forces had reached the Jedi Temple. All of the younglings and most important instructors had already been evacuated. Now the Jedi that remained, including Daemon, along with the temple's personal security forces, and training droids re-programmed to help defend the temple, made a valiant defense against the hordes of Sith Acolytes, Dark Jedi, Sith and Dark Jedi Apprentices, and Covenant Elites that now advanced on them.

The training droids didn't last long, the superior training and powers of the Dark-Siders were more than enough to trash machines meant to test students. Even though they had been set to the Master's training regimen, most of them still got scrapped in seconds.

The security forces fared slightly better. They kept their distance, focusing fire on the Elites, since they were no match against Dark Force users, and chipped away at their energy shields with their blasters before delivering the killing shot to the head once the shields went down. But the Elites weren't stupid. They retaliated with headshots, needle rounds, plasma grenades, concussion rifles, and fuel rod guns, all of which were most effective at cutting the security forces down.

The Jedi meanwhile, locked lightsabers with the Dark force users, as well as the Elite's energy swords. In the latter case, the Jedi found that the higher-ranking Elites were far more dangerous then they thought. That said, their superior swordsmanship and force potential usually saw them victory. But some of the less trained Padawans were slaughtered. Daemon however, was able to hold his ground, easily besting any Elite or lowly dark force user that came his way.

Then a massive Brute Chieftain arrived and walked forward to confront the Jedi. It ran forward in a frenzy, swatting away soldier after soldier with its gravity hammer. And even a Jedi or two. A Jedi master, seeing the obvious threat that the chieftain posed, charged him as his padawan and Daemon both looked on. The Brute Chieftain saw him coming and met his green lightsaber with the full force of his Gravity Hammer. The Jedi master exchanged a few blows with him before the chieftain swatted the blade out of his hand. The Jedi blasted him back with a force push. The chieftain roared furiously. He chucked a plasma grenade which the Jedi Master threw away with the force as it came at him. The Chieftain swept at the Jedi's feet with his gravity hammer. The master leaped backwards over it, kicking the chieftain as he did so. The Chieftain recovered more quickly then the Master had anticipated though, and he struck him across the side of the head with the bladed back of his gravity hammer. As the master recoiled in pain from the blow, the Brute Chieftain lunged forward and brought the full force of his gravity hammer down on him.

"NOOOOO!"

The Jedi Padawan was so horrified by his master's demise that he didn't notice the chieftain was going after him next. By the time he did, the chieftain easily parried his half-hearted strike and swatted him away with his gravity hammer. The padawan went sailing through the air before crashing to the ground. Daemon gazed at his broken body in sadness. He'd seen too many of his fellow Jedi die over the years. In fact he'd seen too much death period.

He turned his gaze to the chieftain. The vicious Brute leader was now going after him. Daemon sprinted at him with the aid of the Force, sliding to a halt as the brute swung his Gravity Hammer at him to dodge it. Daemon flipped up, ignited his lightsaber, and slashed at the Brute's armor as he leaped over him. Upon landing, Daemon kept his lightsaber up to parry each of the Chieftain's strikes with his gravity hammer. The Chieftain fought with a frenzy, wanting to kill Daemon quickly. Daemon kept his guard up and always made sure to punish the Brute Chieftain's recklessness with a slash at his energy shields. One of said slashes destroyed a large part of the Chieftain's shoulder armor.

That really infuriated him. The Chieftain lunged forward at Daemon, slamming his gravity hammer into the ground, creating a shockwave that knocked Daemon back. Daemon did a backwards tumble as the Chieftain lunged forward once more. Daemon got back to his feet as the Chieftain rushed in and swung at Daemon with his gravity hammer yet again. Daemon parried the strike as it came. The Chieftain swung it at his head and Daemon ducked the blow before then parrying the next strike of the hammer. The Chieftain knocked Daemon down with the butt end of the hammer and then turned the Gravity Hammer around so that its bladed back was in front and swung again, slamming down on where Daemon lay. Reacting swiftly, Daemon moved out of the way of the hammer, causing the bladed end to embed itself into the floor. Daemon leaped to his feet and sliced the head of the Gravity Hammer off with his lightsaber and blasted the Brute back with a force-push, sending him tumbling off the ledge of the terrace where he plummeted.

With the Brute Chieftain dead now, Daemon turned his attention back to the main battle. There were bodies everywhere, and the dark force users were advancing. Daemon rushed forward, blasting a Sith Apprentice back and trading blows with a pair of Dark Jedi before cutting them down. Then he turned and saw them: Bastila Shan, along with Drakot, where brazenly walking forward as their underlings pushed the remaining Jedi back. Daemon readied his blue lightsaber, pointing it at the two Sith. Bastila looked at him hard.

"I've been looking forward to our rematch. Once you're dead, we will burn this temple to the ground. With its destruction, the Jedi will be no more, and all will know that my husband and master Revan reigns supreme!"

"Don't make your victory speech before your victory."

"Fool. It is my Battle Meditation that has been allowing the Sith and the Covenant to easily overwhelm your pathetic defenses. And it's also why your little "plan" in space isn't working. Yes, that's right Jedi. We know about your plan to destroy our vessels from within. And I can tell you now, that it will fail."

Daemon readied himself and prepared to face down both Bastila and Drakot. It was all up to him now. If he couldn't take out Bastila, she would go back to using her Battle Mediation to see the Sith and the Covenant to victory. But as long as he dueled with her, he had her sufficiently distracted. He hoped that his duel with Bastila would buy the forces in space enough time to complete OPERATION: SHATTERPOINT and give the Republic a chance at victory. Meanwhile, Drakot glared at Daemon hard with his yellow eyes.

"I've been waiting a long time for this…brother."

And with that, the two Sith activated their double-bladed lightsabers and charged.

Meanwhile the Sith and Covenant forces had finally broken through the defenses to the Chancellor's tower. The chancellor had already been evacuated from the building, but the Covenant and Sith still swarmed through, fully intending to bring the whole skyscraper down. And the UNSC's master tactician along with it. Kat was still busy at her station while Jun and Linda tried to kill as many enemies as they could.

"Uh, Kat, we need to go. Now."

"We can't Jun. Not ye—"

An explosion tore through the building. The three SPARTANS quickly recomposed themselves only to hear the sounds of fighting were getting closer and closer to them.

"Kat, they've broken through!"

"Hang on! Just about…there! OK, let's get the hell out of here!"

"Don't need to tell me twice…" Jun muttered. He, Kat, and Linda rushed out to where their Pelican was waiting for them just as some Sith and Elites rushed up. Upon seeing the SPARTANS fleeing for the Pelican, they pursued. Several Elites, one an Ultra with a fuel rod gun, opened fire on the Pelican. Jun and Linda whipped around and started shooting at the Elites as quickly and efficiently as they could, but most of them managed to survive the barrage. The Ultra fired his fuel rod gun again, and this time, the Pelican was destroyed. The blast knocked the SPARTANS down, but Linda was able to get back on her feet quickly and kill the Ultra, along with another one with two plasma rifles. Jun followed suit and killed a pair of Elites as well before the Sith Apprentices let loose with blasts of force lightning, short-circuiting the SPARTANS's energy shields and bringing them back to their knees. Another force push knocked them fully to the ground.

Kat looked up. Walking forward, flanked by the other Sith, was Noble Six himself. His lightsaber was ignited, and he locked Kat in a force grip. Lifting her into the air, he tossed her back to the ground, knocking her helmet off. He then pulled her back up, and brought her face to face with him.

"Hello Kat. Now listen closely: I don't want to have to kill you love, so listen carefully: This planet is done for. The Sith will triumph here, and I'd rather not see you get slaughtered with all of the Republic soldiers and the Jedi. So, here's what's going to happen: you're going to help bring about the downfall of the Republic, and then submit to the Sith."

Kat struggled to keep breathing, but managed to get the words out:

"And….if I….refuse?"

Noble Six scowled underneath his helmet. He pulled Kat closer to him, and said, quite darkly:

"Then I'll have to kill you"

**Author's Note: HAHAHAH! Great pair of cliffhangers at the end right? Unfortunately, the big duel between Daemon, Bastila, and Drakot will have to wait until after the next chapter where we go back to Master Chief, Kurt, and Revan. I hope you've enjoyed it all so far! Only four chapters to go!**


	15. Chapter 15: The Flood

Chapter 15: The Flood

**Author's Note: We're nearing the end here! I thought I would start with re-introducing a character we haven't seen since chapter 7. Enjoy!**

Chapter 15: The Flood

Reggad glared in total repulsion at the monster he had just sliced to pieces. It had once been a fellow Sangheili but the…parasites on this so-called "sacred ring" had gotten him and mutated him into a monster. Along with many, many others.

Another of said monsters lunged at him. Reggad whipped around and slashed it to pieces with his energy sword. He couldn't understand why these monsters were infesting one of the sacred rings. Perhaps they where guardians meant to discourage unwelcome visitors? That seemed feasible, but the things were ruthless. Already numerous Covenant had been butchered by the parasites, with the small creatures taking any and all fallen Sangheili and mutating them into monstrous beings. Reggad huddled close to the two other remaining Elites and the trio attempted to stave off the creatures as best they could, but they were becoming surrounded and overwhelmed at an alarming rate. Their Plasma fire was only moderately effective at best, and Reggad's energy sword was only useful at close range. He didn't want it to end like this. Death he could accept, but letting his body become a twisted vessel for these abominations…

The encroaching monsters were all vaporized from above. The three Elites looked up to see that reinforcements had arrived in the form of a corvette and a pair of spirits. The corvette landed, and out stepped Supreme Commander Thel 'Vadamee himself. The three Elites saluted the supreme commander on sight.

"What is going on my brothers? What are these parasites that have massacred your forces?"

"We…we do not know Supreme Commander. They appeared out of nowhere, attacking both us and the humans. They have proven to be an extremely deadly adversary. I and my two friends here are all that remain."

"Contact Lo—Darth Revan. Ask him if he has any knowledge about these monsters, or how to best stop them."

"We cannot. Darth Revan has disappeared off of our scanners."

"Check them again to see if you find him"

"Yes, Supreme Commander."

Reggad checked, and his eyes widened as he saw that he now had a fix on Revan's location, albeit a shaky one. Nevertheless, he turned back to Thel 'Vadamee.

"Supreme Commander. Revan is located in some massive construct located on this ring..."

There was silence for a brief moment before Thel came to his decision:

"We shall go there together and confront Revan on the nature of this parasite. And once we have quelled the parasites, we shall activate the ring. The Great Journey _will_ commence! And no number of these abominations shall change that!"

-X-

As a SPARTAN, Master Chief was trained to be the best that he possibly could be. To be caught by surprise was considered the equivalent of willingly allowing yourself to experience any one of a number of grizzly deaths. And so the SPARTANS were, among other things, taught how to never allow themselves to be caught off guard and how to improvise when things didn't go according to plan.

But, no one was perfect…

Facing the Chief right now was the Dark Lord of the Sith himself, Darth Revan. Now by this point, The Chief had come to see that the Sith where a dangerous organization, more powerful and organized then any insurrectionist movement he and the other SPARTANS had ever faced. Maybe even more dangerous than the Covenant. And this…Revan, he was their leader. The Chief hadn't met Revan before but he could gauge his character based on what he had learned during his time in this galaxy. And he'd seen enough to know that Revan wasn't just the Sith's leader because of his raw power. It was also because of his intellect, his cunning, and…something else…

"Chief? Chief? What the hell are you doing-? Gun him do—"

Revan cut Kurt off by hitting him with a high-powered purple-hued blast of force lightning that short-circuited Kurt's energy shields and knocked him back. Master Chief was set to fire his shotgun when Revan outstretched his hand and sent the weapon flying out of the Chief's hands and into his own.

"There is no need for your crude excuses for weapons here."

The Chief was all set to draw his holstered pistol, ignoring the fact that Revan's two Sith Troopers now had their blasters trained on him, when the Monitor's robotic voice interceded:

"Please cease these aggressions. I require the assistance of all of you if I am to contain this Flood outbreak—"

Cortana's voice also interceded, speaking to Master Chief: "Chief, we don't know what's going on. Think for a minute. We both know this is one fight you can't win. That…monitor says that he can contain those creatures we fought. I say we listen to him…just for right now."

The Chief thought about it for a moment. What Cortana said was true and he knew it. He didn't like the way things were going, but if nothing else, he was no good to anyone dead, so he cooperated.

"Talk. What the hell is going on?"

"Ah, yes. Perhaps I should start with what I know: I arrived at this ring along with the Covenant fleet, as you are obviously aware. Both they and myself landed on the ring at the same time, albeit for different reasons. They wanted to "activate" this ring for their "Great Journey" but I was more interested in the history behind the ring, and what it really was. Unfortunately, both my party and theirs ran afoul of these parasitic creatures…and as you can see, I lost nearly my entire platoon of Sith Troopers."

"They…they changed them all…humans, rodians, twi'leks, nautolans…they turned everyone into those mindless monsters! Only Yuit and I managed to survive…"

"Thank you Skell…As I was saying…while fleeing from this…"Flood", we were met by the Monitor. He has already told you what you need to know; that the Flood must be contained. The alternative would be to let them spread beyond the ring, which would lead to the end of the galaxy as we know it."

"What?"

"Surely you know what I mean? I called those things parasites for a reason. They feed off of any and all organisms with the biomass and physiology to sustain them, but their hunger is insatiable. They will not stop until everything in _both _of our galaxies is dead or mutated into more of them. They are a threat to all of us, and for that very reason, I am proposing a truce."

"A truce? You're joking right?" Kurt asked as he staggered back to his feet. "We're supposed to _stop_ you, not work with you."

"It would seem that my blasting you with my lightning did little to improve your intelligence. And here I thought you "super-soldiers" would be a tad more cerebral…" Revan's tone became much harsher: "The Flood do not make distinctions, as you have already seen. They want to devour us_ all_. You, me, the Sith, the Jedi, the Covenant, EVERYONE. I would say that a threat of this nature warrants all of us working together. And you're lucky that I'm intuitive enough to offer this truce. Most other Sith Lords would be too damned arrogant to even work out a temporary alliance, but I am a bit more level-headed. We either survive united, or we perish divided, one by one, until no one is left."

There was silence. What Revan said weighed heavily on the two SPARTANS minds as they both contemplated their decision. They didn't think for long before the monitor's mildly annoying voice rang out again:

"Please, Reclaimers. There is little time, we must move now if we are to—"

The Chief cut the monitor off. He pointed directly at Revan.

"All right, here's the deal: we'll work together to stop the Flood, but Kurt and I still have our eyes on you. If you try _**anything**_, I terminate our little partnership, and once we do stop the Flood…I am going to take you down."

Revan smiled underneath his bronze mask. "You mean you'll try"

Master Chief turned to the Monitor.

"How do we stop the Flood?"

"Ah yes. Well, to start, I require the Index. Once it is found, you, reclaimer, must use it to activate the ring. Once the ring is activated, it will stop the Flood."

Master Chief raised an eyebrow underneath his helmet. "That simple?"

"Yes. But as I said, without the Index, or your assistance, nothing can be done."

"Where do we find the Index?"

The Monitor suddenly sounded a lot more cheerful as he gave his answer: "Why, right this way! Just follow me!"

The monitor flew off, humming to himself as he went. The two SPARTANS shot each-other a brief glance before following the monitor along with Revan and his Sith Troopers, the former nonchalantly tossing the Chief back his shotgun. The group followed the strange machine through a seemingly endless labyrinthine building. Every now and then, the group would come to an elevator which would take them up a level, where they would then have to traverse through another series of corridors. After a while, the two SPARTANS found themselves running out of patience.

"How much longer are we going to be wandering around here?"

"Don't know Kurt. But if what Revan and the Monitor said is true, we'd better find this "Index" as soon as possible…"

The group took yet another elevator up. Upon exiting it, the group heard the same horrific shriek they had all previously heard, right before…

"The Flood. They're coming"

The two Sith Troopers became quite visibly nervous, shaking and clutching their blasters more tightly. Kurt and the Chief readied their shotguns, while Revan just stood there unfazed. Sure enough, several Flood combat forms dropped down on the group. They were as varied as they were numerous: human marines, human Sith troopers, Sith Troopers of numerous other species, Elites…it seemed as if no two Flood were the same, but they all had similar features: the tentacles, the squid-like creatures buried into their chest areas, the horribly disfigured and mutated bodies...

Master Chief blasted a human combat form to pieces as it dropped down on him. Two mutated Sith Troopers ran at him and were given a similar treatment. Meanwhile, Kurt opened fire with his own shotgun while the two Sith Troopers, perhaps now a little unhinged from everything they had already witnessed, began firing their blasters like a pair of trigger-happy mad-men. As Master Chief cut down another combat form, he shot a glance over to Revan, who just stood there, as if bored by everything that was happening around him. But then an Elite combat form ran at him…

What followed happened too quickly for the Chief to see, but the next thing he knew, the Elite combat form had fallen to the ground, now in three pieces…and there stood Revan, with not one, but two lightsabers drawn, one red and the other purple. And he just stood there. Then another combat form came too close to him, and in another blur, it was cut down. The Chief was so distracted, he barely saw some combat forms coming his way in time to blow them all away. As the fight continued, Revan really started moving, gracefully twirling his two lightsabers here and there, causing Flood to fall in droves like wheat before the scythe.

As the fighting continued, Master Chief and Kurt mowed down most of the combat forms while any still standing were mercilessly cut down by Revan's dance of death. The Sith Troopers, for all of their borderline insanity, didn't take out too many combat forms. As the last combat form fell to Revan's lightsabers, the monitor interceded once more:

"Well done! Well done! But let's hurry on! There's no time to waste! The Flood must be contained!" And with that, the monitor flew off once more, again humming to himself as if nothing serious had occurred. Cortana's voice rang out with a question that was on the Chief's mind as well:

"Is it just me, or does that thing seem a little too eager and excited about everything that's going on?"

"Yeah, I know. It's not just you. Something's off, and I want to know what…"

"Come on Chief, we have to keep going."

Kurt's words interrupted the Chief's conversation with Cortana. He nodded and continued onward with Kurt and the others. As opposed to everyone else, who still had their guns drawn and ready, Revan had put his lightsabers away. Between that and the way he had acted previously, just standing still until a combat form actually went at him, the Chief was told all that he needed to know; Revan was obviously unconcerned with his own safety, apparently being presumptuous enough to think that he was guaranteed survival in this little adventure; that his power was sufficient enough to see him through. Then again, if that display with those two lightsabers had been any indication, then maybe his skills _were_ that good…

The group went up another elevator and into another corridor, but unlike the last one, there were no more Flood…but there was something else. As the group was continuing to move to the next elevator, they heard a loud groan coming from around a corner. The paranoid Sith Troopers raised their rifles at the source while the Master Chief pushed past them. He recognized that voice. And sure enough, upon turning around the corner to see who it was, he saw none other than Sergeant Johnson lying there, with several crudely patched up wounds on his body. Upon seeing the Chief, he gave him a weak smile.

"Hey there Chief. Fancy meeting you here. Should have known Keyes would send someone eventually—Argh! Dammit." Johnson rubbed one of his wounds before continuing: "Anyway: I'm sure you've seen what's happening. Some new aliens have mutated all of my men _and_ the covvies into monsters…well, almost all of them…"

Out of the shadows stepped a trio of marines, two still in full armor, all looking thoroughly exhausted but nevertheless still gripping their guns tightly and ready to fire. The ones in the full armor had shotguns, the other, an assault rifle.

"These here are Private O'brien, Private First Class Fitzgerald, and the lad who won't take his helmet off is Chips Dubbo. They're all that's left of my fire team."

"Good to see you Chief…again" Fitzgerald said somewhat half-heartedly.

"Yeah, thank G-d you're here" Chips Dubbo added "We've been on the run for hours, and the Sarge has been shot…"

"I told you I'm fine dammit! I just need more time for the bio-foam to set in. Until then…well, I _could _use some protection, if you don't mind…"

The same all-too familiar horrific shrieking cut through the conversation.

"The Flood's back! Everyone get ready and stay close! The Chief and I will take the brunt of their offensive. And whatever you do, keep the sergeant alive!"

The three marines nodded in response to Kurt's orders and moved back out with the SPARTANS to meet up with Revan, the Monitor, and the Sith troopers. Upon seeing them, the marines panicked for a brief moment.

"Chief! That's Revan! What the hell is he doing he—"

Master Chief cut Sergeant Johnson off. "No time to explain, but we're all on the same side for right now"

"WHAT? Eh…I'll just take your word for it Chief. I've seen too much crazy shit this past week…"

More Flood rushed in, and Kurt, the Chief, and Johnson's marines opened fire on sight, cutting down several of the combat forms. Revan outstretched a hand and the remaining ones were blasted back as if hit by a massive gust of wind. The others saw that as their cue to fall back. They arrived at a massive circular platform: another one of the elevators, only this one was far larger than the others. Master Chief was first to get on it, followed swiftly by Kurt, Revan, the Sith Troopers, and Chips Dubbo. Fitzgerald and O'brien lagged behind, with the former helping Sergeant Johnson along and the latter providing covering fire. Finally though, everyone reached the elevator. Master Chief activated the console…and nothing happened.

"What the hell is going on? The elevator's not working…"

"Ah yes. Well, this is the final lift, and it will take some time before it is ready to go…in the meantime, you must keep the Flood away! They cannot be allowed near the Index!"

Master Chief heard Kurt give an incredulous response: "What? But there must be dozens of them, if not hundreds! These shotguns only have so much ammo buddy…"

"Not to worry!"

Out of nowhere, several of the same floating machines that Kurt and Master Chief had seen earlier descended as the Monitor continued:

"These Sentinels will supplement your combat system. But I really do suggest that you all upgrade to at least a Class Twelve combat skin. Your current models only scan as classes one through three, which are ill suited for this kind of work."

"I'll be sure to tell the brass that when I'm asking for armor upgrades" Kurt replied sarcastically. No sooner had this brief exchange been concluded did a large number of Flood forms blast forward in an almost unstoppable surge, single-minded in their twin goals of annihilation and absorption of their victims.

"LET EM HAVE IT MARINES!" Sergeant Johnson hollered. O'brien opened fire first, due to the longer range of his assault rifle, soon backed up by the Sith Troopers and the Sentinels, who unleashed their powerful orange-colored blasts at the combat forms that were particularly effective at cutting them down. Any Flood that made it past that assault were blown away by the shotguns of Master Chief, Kurt, and the other marines, or the crippling force lightning of Darth Revan. The monitor observed it all as it happened, every now and then putting in some irritating comment or another that the Chief tried hard to ignore, such as:

"Hmm…interesting, this one reclaimer wields offensive capabilities that the rest of you do not, including the discharge of powerful blasts of electricity. Curious…could it be a genetic anomaly…?"

Or

"I find it curious that so many of you all opt for the same crude weapon, especially since it is only useful at an extremely close range…"

Despite the Monitor's constant comments, the battle still went reasonably well. But the Flood seemed to be endless. The Chief had long since lost count of how many Combat Forms he'd blasted to bits, only to see more keep coming. And that wasn't even the worst of it: many of the combat forms used weapons that their host bodies had used in life, which only made things more difficult. The Chief was used to dealing with plasma and needle rounds, but blaster bolts, and especially bullets; were a different matter entirely. So many different weapons were being fired at him, that the Chief was beginning to lose track.

Then he saw it. A pair of combat forms, one of them human, the other Elite, both armed with SPNKR Rocket Launchers, were moving in. And they were taking aim…

"EVERYONE HIT THE DIRT! We've got rockets coming in!"

But alas, by the time the Chief had uttered his warning, the rockets had already been fired. Master Chief hurled a frag grenade at the combat forms that succeeded in blowing up the human one, but not the Elite form, which fired its rocket launcher again before being cut down by Revan's lightning. Meanwhile, the rockets that had been fired had knocked Kurt back and damaged his shields. The Chief looked out and could see more combat forms showing up with rocket launchers in tow. And they too opened fire.

"EVERYONE MO—"

But it was too late. The rockets hit home like a hailstorm of death, and one of them blew one of the marines away. Sergeant Johnson's scream quickly identified who:

"O'BRIEN!"

Master Chief shouted out to the Monitor:

"Listen up pal; we can't hold them off any longer! Get the damned elevator working!"

"Already done! The lift is ready to move! Keep the Flood off at all costs!"

No sooner had the monitor finished its sentence did the lift finally begin to rise, airlifting the remaining eight to safety. But Master Chief could still hear the horrific gurgles of the Flood. After a somewhat lengthily ride, those sounds grew fainter, and fainter, before ceasing completely. Finally, the lift stopped, and the group found themselves facing a long corridor leading to large chamber filled with shelves that contained what appeared to be…terminals. Walls upon walls of strange-looking terminals. The whole room had a blue lighting.

"Must be their substitute for library books…"

Johnson turned to face Fitzgerald

"NOT funny soldier! Now zip it!" Sergeant Johnson then turned to Master Chief: "Well Chief, were do we go from here?"

"I don't know. But I bet _he_ does…" The Chief pointed directly at the monitor. Upon noticing, the monitor replied:

"Well, Flood activity has damaged machinery necessary to deactivate the Index's final security measures. I will return when they are fully repaired. Until then, you must hold this location. As it is, I would not worry about the Flood reaching this level, as they cannot scale the walls of the shaft to such a degree. But nevertheless, please remain here while I am gone."

And with that, the monitor flew through a large hole in the wall and disappeared. The hole almost looked like it had been built there just for that purpose, and indeed it did look just like the holes the Sentinels had flown out of. Once the monitor was gone, Master Chief could hear Cortana's voice:

"I really don't trust him"

"Neither do I. He knows more then he's letting on…"

"Indeed. I think we should ask him what's really going on once he gets back…assuming that he even does…"

Kurt cut in: "Hey look, all of this being said, it doesn't change the fact that none of us are going anywhere for a while, so we may as well all get comfortable…"

"Yeah, I suppose so…"

And with that, the room was plunged into total silence. Johnson slumped down and waited for his injuries to be finished healing. Chips Dubbo and Fitzgerald kept their distance from the two Sith Troopers, who had slumped up against a different corner. Both of them were twitching somewhat, and again, looked to be a bit unstable…the Chief caught himself wondering whether or not the two Sith Troopers would crack completely. He hoped not. They had enough to worry about as it was without those two Sith going insane on them…

Master Chief got up and decided to explore the area a little more. He looked around the labyrinth of data-shelves and saw Revan standing in front of one of the terminals, which he had activated, apparently absorbing all of its knowledge. After a few moments, he walked over to the next terminal, and repeated the process. As he was gazing into these terminals, the Chief noticed that he was holding a black pyramid-shaped construct to the terminal, and the structure's top opened up…

Revan suddenly spoke up, briefly catching the Master Chief by surprise.

"A little far from the others aren't you?"

"What are you doing?"

Revan turned to face the Chief and replied: "I'm not so sure that that's any of your business, but if you must know, I am absorbing all of this knowledge into my holocron here…"

Revan held up the pyramid-shaped machine as he continued:

"This holocron contains all of my collected knowledge on various things over the years. This "forerunner" knowledge will be an excellent addition to my lexicon. It really is all quite impressive…these "forerunners" possessed technology light-years more advanced than any other civilization I know of, aside from the Rakatan, and even _they_ didn't have some of this technology…Slipspace travel for instance, very similar to Hyperspace travel, only these forerunners seemed to have developed it years before the Rakatan ever invented hyperspace technology…"

"What are the Rakatan?"

"Oh, just an ancient civilization that invented hyperspace travel and created the Star Forge, among many other things. They were certainly impressive back in their day, but these Forerunners…they may have been even greater."

Now, Master Chief was never anything resembling a "history nut" but he did have a curious side, and he couldn't seem to help himself around Revan, so he asked:

"Like how?"

"Well, for starters, the Forerunners had superior weaponry, such as these "Sentinels" that have been aiding us, as opposed to the Rakatan, who used somewhat crude melee weapons for the most part. Furthermore, there is their defense and armor capabilities to take into account. Remember how the monitor said that our armors are only classes 1-3? Well, based on this data and schematics, the Forerunners defenses were far more advanced than anything I've ever seen. Nothing is more potent then it: Durasteel, Mandalorian armors, not even my own robes and armor can match up to this…and your own marine's armor would come off as being like cheap cloth in comparison, although to be fair, it's not really very impressive compared to _my_ soldier's armors either…anyway, there is also a third and final reason: the differences between their downfalls. The Rakatan Empire imploded: in other words, it became too large and spread too thin, to the point where it could no longer control it's really quite large slave population. As for the Forerunners, the only reason their empire fell was because of the Flood. Needless to say, I believe that had the Flood not shown up, the Forerunner Empire would still be around today."

"What?"

"Come now. After everything I've told you? Of course they would still be around today where it not for the Flood's intervention. Their armor systems alone would grant them complete immunity from any conventional hostile force."

"I find that hard to believe. No one is completely invincible. Not even you"

"I'm going to assume that was a threat on your part. Anyway, maybe a particularly ruthless enemy such as the Sith or the Mandalorians could have possibly overthrown them, but I'm not so sure…then again, I suppose we shall never know…it's a shame really. I could have seen the Forerunners accomplishing even more…"

Revan and Master Chief's exchange was interrupted by the call of Chips Dubbo:

"Hey Chief! Where are you? The robot's back!"

"I beg your pardon? I am 5899 Rueful Sentry, Monitor of Installation—"

Sergeant Johnson cut him off: "Shut up tinker bell, you're starting to unnerve me. Chief! Get back here, double-time!"

Master Chief shot Revan another look and saw that the Sith Lord was already heading off. Master Chief followed. Upon arriving, the monitor turned to them exclusively:

"The repairs have been made reclaimers. The energy barrier has been deactivated. You may now retrieve the index so we can stop the Flood!"

Everyone was already getting back up and was about to move out when Master Chief held out his hand:

"Hold on. No one is going anywhere until I get some answers. What is really going on here?"

"I beg your pardon reclaimer, but I do not unders—"

Cortana's voice rang out for all to hear, but it looked like it was coming from Master Chief, which freaked out everyone except Johnson, Kurt, and Revan, who all knew that it was an AI talking.

"The Flood is spreading, we get that, but we want to know how and why. Why are the Flood here, on this ring? And how exactly do the Index and the ring stop the Flood?"

There was an awkward silence following this. Finally though, the monitor gave its answer:

"Well, uh…I'm not so sure that I should be imparting this information, as I do believe that it is classified, but…I do find your quaint company rather entertaining so…"

"Quit stalling."

"…I will tell you what you desire to know: this installation, and the others like it, were specifically built to study and contain the Flood. Their survival as a race was dependent upon it. I am grateful to see that some of them survived to reproduce…"

"Wait a minute: you're _grateful_ that the Flood are still here?"

"Well uh…allow me to rectify my previous statement: I _was_ grateful. All of the monitors were. After all, while it was true what the Flood did to our creators was most…unpleasant and unfortunate, to say the least, we still had a desire to study them. Figure out why they act the way they do. But of course, as far as studying them went, the Flood is simply too dangerous to release, so we had to keep samples on the rings after the last catastrophic outbreak to study. Now I see...that that decision…may have been an error."

"Oh, you think?"

"Yes…I would conjecture that the other species currently on the installation are the ones responsible for releasing the Flood. Needless to say, they seem most persistent in their attempts to access restricted areas..."

"Yeah, well those "other species" believe that this place is sacred to their religion, so there's your answer to that mystery. Now tell us: how do the index and the ring stop the Flood exactly?"

"Uh…well, the Index is the only way to activate the rings. For security reasons, only a reclaimer can use the index to activate the ring. As I have already stated, once the ring is activated, it will stop the Flood, as it had done previously…"

"But **how**?"

"Uh…I…uh…"

"Perhaps I could tell you based on the knowledge _I_ have collected"

Everyone turned to face Revan as he continued:

"I've been gathering information on the Forerunners, and I know what really happened to them. Why there are no more of them, and why the monitor isn't telling everything he knows: The ring does not wipe out the Flood: it wipes out its food. Human, Wookie, Twi'lek, Sangheili, any and all sentient life with the biomass and proper physiology to sustain the Flood is killed by the ring thanks to a wave of energy it transmits that kills off any and all life that could serve as a potential food source. This is meant to starve the Flood out. I know this because I have a transcript of a conversation between two Forerunners right before they activated the ring, recorded on my holocron. Would you like to hear it? Or perhaps we could ask the monitor for confirmation instead?"

Everyone's gazes now turned to the Monitor. Master Chief asked him hard: "Is this all true?"

The monitor hesitated for a moment before giving his answer:

"Yes. Yes it is."

**Author's Note: WHOA! Another long one! The longest one so far I think! This one took me a while to finish, as I have once again been attacked by that pesky writer's block, but now it's finally done! **

**When making 5899 Rueful Sentry, I wanted to make him a bit different then 343 Guilty Spark. That is to say, aside from glowing purple instead of blue, RS is more overly excited and treats everything like its one big show, as opposed to Guilty Spark, who is more aloof and later, psychotic. And finally, as for Revan and the way I write him, well, I've always seen him as an inquisitive individual, someone who always looks for more and more knowledge, and makes no secret about how intelligent he is compared to so many others. He's the kind of villain who knows that knowledge and intelligence are the greatest weapons of all, not the Force (though he's plenty skilled there too!)**


	16. Chapter 16: The Invasion Continues

Chapter 16

**Author's Note: We're nearing the end! A lot's happening in this climax, so be prepared, and I hope you all enjoy!**

**Several Years ago: The Eve of the Mandalorian Wars…**

_Daemon stood facing the Republic shuttle that was all set to take him off to the horrible war raging between the genocidal Mandalorians and the rest of the galaxy. The Republic had called for the Jedi's aid, but the council had refused to get involved for some idiotic reason, and many Jedi, including Revan and Alek, refused to stand for it. And so these Jedi defied the Council, and went off to help the Republic, under Revan's lead. And Daemon had been one of those Jedi that had made that decision... _

_As he was heading off to the vessel, he heard his brother's voice call out to him:_

"_Daemon stop!"_

_Daemon turned to face his brother, who was there, looking pleading and desperate. _

"_I'm going Drakot"_

"_But the council said no! They don't want you all to go off and fight the Mandalorians! They say that it's not the right thing to do-"_

"_The Mandalorians are out of control Drakot. They need to be stopped."_

"_Daemon, meeting aggression with aggression is not the Jedi way!"_

"_So it's the Jedi way to do nothing while women and children are being butchered? Is it not the Jedi way to protect the innocent? Well that's what Revan wants us to do. The Republic has called for the Jedi's aid, and what is the Council doing? Nothing."_

"_Daemon, don't give into your anger and your desire for revenge."_

"_I'm not. I'm simply making the right choice. I'm going to war to protect others, not to fight. Now I'm not asking you to come with me Drakot, but don't stand in my way either. Good-bye…"_

_And just like that, it was over. Daemon got on board the Republic frigate and he was off to the Mandalorian Wars…_

**Coruscant-Present:**

Daemon held his ground as Drakot and Bastila came at him with their double-bladed lightsabers. Bastila moved in more quickly, trading blows with Daemon, who stepped back as he deflected each blow as it came. Bastila made an overhead swing at Daemon's head with one side of her double-saber, which Daemon moved out of the way of, before then making a thrust of his own.

Drakot came charging in, brandishing his double-bladed lightsaber with total ferocity. Bastila joined in again, and Daemon was having to deflect strikes from the both of them. Drakot charged in head-first, eager to vivisect his hated brother. Daemon parried each of his blows before blasting him back with a force push just as Bastila leaped in and tried to bring her saber blade down on Daemon's head. He saw her just in time and blocked the blow. Now facing Bastila once again, Daemon blocked her offensive as best he could, and attempted a grazing strike on the arm. His strike missed, and Bastila retaliated with another flurry of blows. One of the strikes was enough to damage Daemon's armor, and as he reeled back from the blow, Bastila attempted to thrust her saber blade through Daemon's chest and run him through. Fortunately for Daemon, he was able to block the strike in time. Outstretching a hand, Daemon blasted Bastila back with a force push, sending her sailing through the air.

Seeing his own chance to move in, Drakot force-sprinted towards Daemon who just barely had time to block his first few strikes as he recomposed himself. As the two brothers engaged in their deadly dance, they exchanged dialogue with one another:

"I've been waiting for years to tear you limb from limb…"

"Cruelly ironic isn't it? You were the one who refused to go into the Mandalorian Wars, and yet it was you, not I, who fell to the Dark Side. Pretty sad Drakot."

"NO! It was you who caused my fall into darkness! You who abandoned me to the Sith forces that found me and tortured me! You should **never **have gone to war against the mandalorians!"

Drakot made a sweeping attack with his double saber, intending to cut off his brother's legs, but Daemon leaped over the sweeping attack and then brought his saber down on the red blade. As their exchange of blows continued, with Drakot making upward slashes and horizontal cuts that were all blocked, Daemon shouted back:

"Dammit, I did what I thought was best!"

Drakot attempted a downward slash. Daemon side-stepped out of the way and kicked Drakot back. As Drakot got back to his feet, Daemon resumed his defensive stance as he continued:

"I made my choice years ago to fight the Mandalorians. And the council be damned, I know it was the right choice, and that if I had to do it all again…I would."

That caused Drakot to snap. Daemon could see it in his yellow eyes. And sure enough, he charged at Daemon with renewed fury.

"I'LL KILL YOU!"

Daemon dodged out of the way of Drakot's next slash and blasted him back with the force. Bastila ran at him and attempted several slashes aimed at his head. Daemon side-stepped out of the way of each one as it came, and made sure to keep his brother away with force pushes. As their lightsaber exchange continued, Bastila grew more and more vicious, feeding off of the Dark Side and using all of her hatred and anger to increase her power. It was all Daemon could do to keep blocking her attacks and keep Drakot at bay as well. As Daemon blasted Drakot back yet again, Bastila shouted out to him:

"Get up you fool! Lord Revan and I didn't choose to spare you on the Star Forge Command center so you could fail us. Get UP!"

Further enraged by Bastila's berating, and using it and his hatred towards his brother to increase his own power, Drakot charged towards Daemon again, and so the Jedi Knight was once again forced to simultaneously fend off attacks from both of them. Eventually, Bastila fired a blast of Force Lightning at Daemon. Outstretching a hand, Daemon held the lightning at bay with the Light Side of the Force while holding his lightsaber in his other hand to block Drakot's continued attacks. Eventually, Daemon redirected the lightning right back to its source, forcing Bastila back, and allowing Daemon to focus on Drakot once more…

-X-

Kat's emerald eyes looked on at Noble Six, confused, desperate, and afraid…her former teammate had just threatened to kill her if she didn't join the Sith as he had. He kept her locked in his force grip.

"Well?" He asked. "What's it going to be love?"

Kat knew that she was probably as good as dead…there was no way she was going to join the Sith, and that meant that Noble Six would kill her then…no, it couldn't end like that…there had to be a third option…the normal cold and calculating side of her argued that it was hopeless. The Noble Six she had known was dead, and this one would kill her without a second thought. But another part of her said no…there had to still be something of the old him left in there…there _had_ to be…

Deciding she had nothing left to lose, Kat gave a different response:

"Six please…don't do this. Don't side with them, don't abandon all that you once fought for…please, Six…this isn't who you are…"

"It is who I am now Kat. Now give me your answer: join us, or die"

"Dammit Six, you know I won't join you! You'll have to kill me! Are you prepared to do that? Kill me? I…I don't think you are."

"Oh really…?"

"YES! Please don't stay a monster!" Kat was crying now, something she hadn't done since she was orphaned by the Covenant. "I don't…I can't see you become this! I love you!"

That last bit caught Noble Six off guard. Now it was he who was faced with a dilemma. Kat's words had struck him where he was not expecting. He found himself forced to reconsider his stance…he thought about her, and how, in a sense, he still felt for her…he remembered the times they'd fought side-by-side on Reach…he remembered saving her life in New Alexandria and kissing her in Dr. Halsey's lab…he'd stayed behind on Reach so she wouldn't have to…was he really going to kill her now? Then the voice of the Dark Side hissed in his ear:

_Why should you care? If she refuses to join you, then she is just another enemy. Unfit to stand beside you in your current state of power…you should kill her…_

Kill her? Was he really going to? He found himself suddenly questioning himself and the path that he had chosen…why had he chosen it? Thinking about it, he realized that he still hated the Sith…so why had he joined them? Why had he…? He realized as he continued to think about it that he couldn't help it when the Dark Side of the Force was presented before him. It was so intoxicating and alluring…and he had no way of protecting himself from it…especially when Darth Revan was torturing him into submission…but now that he was actually confronted with a serious choice…would he give in? Would he really kill the woman he loved and go past the point of no return?

One of the Sith Apprentices with him called out to him:

"Well? What are you waiting for? Kill her!"

Noble Six shut his eyes underneath his helmet as he found himself conflicted with what to do. The Dark Side still called out to him, urging him to kill Kat. But he couldn't…he couldn't do it. He could not kill her. He loved her too much to let the Dark Side take her from him. The other Sith Apprentice called out to him again:

"Do it!"

Noble Six calmed himself, called upon all of his willpower to resist the Dark Side's urge, and turned around…

With one force push he blasted one of the Sith Apprentices back and then drew his lightsaber. By the time the Sith could fully grasp the situation, Jun and Linda had recovered and shot one of them at the same time. Noble Six engaged the other one in a lightsaber duel. Unfortunately, his lightsaber skills still weren't the best, and the Sith Apprentice parried each of his blows before responding with well-choreographed strikes of his own that Noble Six had trouble deflecting. Luckily for Six though, Kat intervened by shooting the Sith Apprentice in the head with her pistol while he was distracted. As the Sith Apprentice fell to the ground dead, Noble Six turned to face his old teammate. Instinctively taking off his helmet, Noble Six ran towards Kat and embraced her. They kissed one another deeply and then continued to hold one another tightly.

"Six…thank you so much…I thought I had lost you…"

"Yeah…for a minute, so did I. But I'm back now Kat. I am…"

"A-hem…"

Jun's voice interrupted Kat and Noble Six's moment of reunion. They both turned to face him.

"I really hate to spoil this, but there's still a battle going on, and in case you haven't noticed, we're getting slaughtered"

"Right…OK! We need to contact the sabre teams first, find out how far along in bringing down those warships they are. Jun, Linda, I want you two to do what you can to stem the invading Sith and Covenant forces. Six, you're with me."

Six nodded. Kat radioed the Pillar of Autumn:

"Captain Keyes, how is the battle going?"

"Poorly Noble Two. Most of the Republic squadrons have been forced to pull out, each one's lost at least half of their fighters…fortunately, all three Sabre squads are in, but the teams are encountering heavy resistance…"

"Understood. Sabre Teams: We are suffering heavy losses here on the ground. You _need_ to commandeer those vessels and turn them on the other Sith warships. And hurry! We do not have any time to waste!"

-X-

Meanwhile, on board the Sith Capital vessels that had been boarded by the three SPARTAN-IIs and their respective teams, Kat's orders had just come through, and it was Fred who responded first, forwarding his message to Jorge and Kelly:

"All right, you heard the lady. We need to quit screwing around and finish this now!"

"Got it" Came the unanimous response. Fred's fireteam now fought more intensely, pushing through the Sith forces swarming the vessel's halls as best they could. Meanwhile on board _The Hydra, _Kelly ran forward using her superior speed and brutal skill with a shotgun to blaze a trail for the rest of her men to follow. On _The Cyclops, _Jorge blazed a similar trail for his men, his machine gun turret cutting down even the Sith Elite Troopers with ease. As it was, Fred's fireteam on board _The Chimera _reached the bridge first. Upon reaching the entrance, Fred ordered his men to stay alert and be prepared for possible conflict with Dark Jedi…

They opened the door and sure enough, two Dark Jedi were waiting on each side of the door. Two marines were cut down immediately, before one of the Dark Jedi changed his attention to Fred. Reacting quickly, Fred skillfully dodged the swing of the Dark Jedi's lightsaber. The Dark Jedi followed it up with a thrust and Fred side-stepped to avoid it. Reacting quickly, Fred grabbed the Dark Jedi's lightsaber arm and with his other hand jammed his combat knife into the Dark Jedi's eye, killing him instantly. Grabbing the fallen Dark Jedi's lightsaber, Fred hurled it at a nearby Sith Elite, impaling him. As more Sith Elite Troopers opened fire on Fred, he quickly re-drew his assault rifle in his spare hand and opened fire as the remaining members of his fire-team continued to advance.

The other Dark Jedi fired a blast of drain life at Fred. Seeing their leader in danger, two nearby ODSTS that were a part of the fireteam turned their attention to the Dark Jedi, opening fire on him. The Dark Jedi skillfully dodged their hail of bullets and blasted one of the ODSTS back with a force push. Moving in, he decapitated the other ODST before the soldier could fire his gun again. Taking advantage of his brief distraction though, Fred managed to stick the Dark Jedi with a stolen plasma grenade. The ensuing explosion disoriented the remaining soldiers on the bridge. Fred pushed on first, his marines and ODSTS following right behind and mowing down any of the Sith Elites and Heavy Troopers that stood in his way. Soon, only the ship's admiral, a devaronian male remained. He drew a Sith Assassin's pistol, a standard side-arm for officers like him, and aimed it menacingly at Fred.

"Really? After we killed all of your men, some of the most well-armed and highly trained soldiers in your army, you're threatening me with a frickin pistol? Don't be stupid. Put it down."

Heaving a reluctant sigh, the admiral lowered his pistol in surrender. Fred pushed him to one side and activated his comlink:

"Lieutenant Commander Kat, this is Junior Lieutenant Frederic-104. We have seized _The Chimera _and are ready to turn it on the other Sith ships."

"Excellent job Fred. Now pray that Jorge and Kelly have similar luck…"

"Indeed ma'am" Fred turned to what was left of his fireteam. "Stay sharp. More troopers will be coming through those doors to hassle us. We have to maintain control of this ship, so keep them back for as long as you can. Remember: kill the grenadiers first."

"Yes sir!"

With his men defending the bridge entrance, Fred set about turning _The Chimera _around, so that it was now facing a Covenant Destroyer. Fred gave the order to the marines that had been placed in control of the turrets when the fireteam had been making its way through the ship:

"All turrets and ship gun emplacements, concentrate all of your fire on that Covvie Destroyer!"

The marines in control of said turrets and gun emplacements obeyed the order and opened fire. The Covenant Destroyer was so caught off guard by being fired upon by _The Chimera_ that it didn't return fire in time. The ship went down to the relentless assault from the commandeered warship.

Fred smiled. They'd accomplished their objective. Now Jorge and Kelly just had to do the same thing and then the tide would hopefully start to turn in their favor…he hoped so.

-X-

On the bridge of _The Righteous Fury, _Eturb was given the report that a Sith vessel had just destroyed one of their destroyers.

"WHAT? Argh! Treachery! Damn those Sith, we were fools for trusting humans. Tell all nearby supercarriers to open fire on the nearest Sith Vessels!"

"Yes sir!"

And with this, the act of deception was complete.

-X-

Back down on the surface, Kat and Noble Six were fighting their way through the Sith and Covenant forces, Noble Six putting his new lightsaber skills and force abilities to good use. As they continued to fight their way through the enemy forces, reinforcements came in the form of a pair of Scorpion Tanks and more legions of Republic soldiers, helping to beat back the Sith and Covenant forces, or at the least, halt their continued advances somewhat.

"Strange…" Kat muttered. "The tide of battle is beginning to turn all of a sudden. I don't believe in coincidences, so it's something else. What do you think Six?"

"Well, Kat…"

Noble Six was cut off when a massive blast of green energy tore through a Scorpion tank, completely destroying the vessel. A large metal leg came down and crushed a warthog under it. Noble Six and Kat knew immediately what it was.

"Oh no, oh G-d no…"

But as the two looked on, they could see yet _another _scarab in the distance. And behind that…

"Kat, move!"

Noble Six pulled Kat out of the way as the scarabs continued to advance. Seeking shelter, they made their way to a nearby abandoned embassy tower. Kat could already hear the radio chatter confirming what she and Noble Six had just seen as they took cover.

"I count _three _scarabs! I repeat, THREE SCARABS! We're totally fu—"

There was a crackling sound and that particular channel went silent. Kat reacted quickly to the situation, as she always did:

"Attention, this is Lieutenant Commander Kat, there are a trio of scarabs pushing through the north end of the city, we need them all taken down now! Anyone who has the right amount of firepower, and a means of getting on board the scarabs effectively, double-time to my position at the old embassy tower."

"Copy that ma'am. Professional help is on the way"

The channel went silent. Kat turned to Noble Six.

"We need to hole up in some kind of shelter or the Scarabs will vaporize us. Come on, we should be safe in this tower…"

The two SPARTANS went inside and scaled the massive flights of stairs until they reached a mid-level of the tower. High enough to offer a solid vantage point, but low enough that if the tower got knocked down they could (hopefully) escape in time. As the two tried to make camp, they waited for an unbearable length of time for that "professional help" that had been promised them, but no one came…Kat was panicking when she and Noble Six's ears picked up a familiar sound…

Almost out of nowhere swooped in half-a-dozen ODSTS with jetpacks strapped on their backs. The leader of the group walked up to the two SPARTANS and saluted them.

"We had a feeling we might find you two in here. So…which one of you feels like jumping?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Kat, these are the Bull-Frogs. I fought alongside them in New Alexandria. I think I can guess their plan for bringing down the Scarabs pretty well…"

"Ah, but there's more to it than just jumping onto the scarabs and blasting the crap out of anything that moves sir. We've also got a second part of the plan…"

"And what might that be?"

The Bull-Frog Sergeant became more serious as he gave his reply: "We're gonna commandeer one of the Scarabs and turn it on the other two, blowing all of them up."

"You can't be serious soldier…"

"I'm very serious ma'am. Unless of course you have a better strategy in mind?"

Noble Six cut in: "Kat, I know it sounds crazy, but if they do take control of one of the scarabs, think about how much firepower that would give us…firepower we really could use to our advantage…"

Kat sighed deeply. "All right "Bull-Frogs", do what you like, but it's your funerals if you all get killed."

"Understood ma'am" The Bull-Frog Sergeant turned his attention to Noble Six.

"So, SPARTAN…we meet again. I like the new armor by the way, black's a nice color"

"Uh, thanks…"

"So…you ready to jump again?"

"What?"

"Jump again. You know, help us take on the Scarab…we could definitely use a SPARTAN to back this crazy plan of ours up…"

"Eh…I would need a jetpack…"

"Not a problem" The Bull-Frog sergeant turned to one of his men who handed him a spare-jet-pack which he in turn handed to Noble Six.

"Well?"

Noble Six turned to look at Kat. She nodded. Noble Six turned back to the Bull-Frog sergeant. "All right, lets move"

"Excellent! All right Bull-Frogs, the SPARTANS with us now. Everyone form up near the windows!"

The ODSTS did as instructed. The Sergeant gave out the next order as they saw one of the scarabs come within jetpack range…

"All right, wait for the Scarab to come closer…closer…OK, on my mark: 3, 2, 1…JUMP!"

Noble Six and the Bull-Frogs took off on their jetpacks and descended down onto the scarab. The group landed on top of the upper canopy on the rear end. By the time the Grunts manning the rear plasma turrets noticed them, they were all cut down. The group then jumped down onto the pad. One of the Bull-Frogs ripped one of the plasma turrets off its stand.

"I don't think they'll be needing this anymore…"

Several Elite Minors and Jackals ran up to confront the group. The Bull-Frogs greeted them with a hail of bullets (and plasma turret fire), and Noble Six provided assistance with his lightsaber, which not even the Elite's energy shields could shrug off. Soon all of the Elites and Jackals were dead, but no sooner had the last one fallen to a Bull-Frog's shotgun then several more Elites, all of them Majors and officers, ran up to confront the squad. Chaos ensued as the two parties exchanged fire, with bullets, plasma bolts and needle rounds flying all over the place. The bull-frog with the plasma turret gave his team some much needed firepower with which to disperse the Elite's energy shields, leaving them easy pickings for the others to finish off.

Noble Six was the first one to enter the scarab's main operating chamber. A few Grunt Ultras panicked upon seeing him, and Noble Six simply bashed their heads in with the butt end of his lightsaber hilt. The Elite at the controls happened to be a white-armored commander, and was none too happy that the humans had slaughtered his crew. With a roar of fury, he drew an energy sword and charged toward Noble Six. Readying his lightsaber, Noble Six clashed with the Elite's energy sword. Not expecting to be countered with another melee weapon, the commander left himself defenseless for a brief moment which Noble Six took advantage of and moved in, landing blow after blow before he finally backed the commander up against a corner. A simple thrust was all it took after that.

"Glad to have you back SPARTAN" the Bull-Frog sergeant remarked as he came down with the other bull-frogs. He turned to the rest of his squad.

"Alright men, the scarab's ours, the SPARTAN will take control now..."

Noble Six nodded and went to the scarab's control panel. Not surprisingly, it looked extremely unusual to him and he found it hard to operate it at first, unsure of what to do…perhaps if he tried the force instead… Calming himself and clearing his mind, Noble Six let the force guide his decision…

He pressed his hand on one of the interfaces and the scarab started moving again. Then he tried something else, and off the scarab went. Making its way through the now ruined Coruscant city, the scarab went after one of the other lumbering behemoths, which was currently using its primary cannon to vaporize anyone in sight. Noble Six positioned the commandeered scarab to face the other one, and charged up the cannon…

"Hey, bastards! Knock, knock!"

The commandeered scarab let loose with its powerful cannon, and the effect it caused by colliding with the other scarab was nothing short of spectacular. The blast completely destroyed the side of the machine, which no doubt also killed most if not all of the vessel's crew, and the vehicle's other parts began to smoke and emit blue flames as the whole thing lost balance. Finally, it all came crashing down…and on top of quite a few Sith and Covenant ground troops no less.

Upon seeing all this, the Bull-Frogs cheered with jubilance, overjoyed at the success of their plan. Already, the Republic and UNSC channels were discussing what had just occurred. But of course, there was still work to be done. Noble Six redirected the scarab, using its powerful legs to crush Covenant vehicles and soldiers underfoot. Another blast from its main cannon blew away a trio wraiths, whose mortar cannons did little to halt the scarab. Eventually, the commandeered scarab came into contact with the third one, and the two vehicles charged their cannons on sight…

Noble Six turned to the bull-frogs: "Abandon ship, they're going to destroy each-other!"

The Bull-Frogs nodded and ran out of the back of the scarab, using their jetpacks to ease their descent. Once he was sure that the cannon would destroy the other scarab, Noble Six ran out as well. His timing couldn't have been more perfect. He escaped just as the two scarabs fired at one another, causing the both of them to explode into massive blue fireballs.

The blasts disoriented the group somewhat, but soon they were back on their feet. The Bull-Frog sergeant turned to Noble Six and saluted him.

"Always a pleasure jumping with you SPARTAN."

The channels came on again, for Noble Six and all the ODSTS to hear:

"Attention: this is civilian evac. The last of our transports are being hit hard. We're under heavy assault. We need reinforcements or we will lose the evac ships, I repeat we will lose the evac ships unless reinforcements arrive."

There was a silence before Noble Six asked the Bull-Frog sergeant:

"How far away are the transports?"

"A ways away, even if you've got jetpacks like us, but if you had a vehicle…"

At that moment Sergeant Stacker drove in with a warthog and a republic commando in the passenger seat.

"Could use you on the gun sir"

"Sorry Sergeant, but I'm driving. You've got the gun."

"Copy that"

As Sergeant Stacker got out of the driver's seat and into the turret, Noble Six turned to the Bull-Frogs:

"See you guys there…" Then, with a somewhat more sly tone: "Try and keep up"

"Will do sir, will do"

And with that, the Warthog blasted forward, off to the site of the evac ships…

-X-

Daemon, Bastila, and Drakot's duel had been going on for quite some time now, with all three combatants now beginning to grow exhausted from the constant dueling. Daemon, for his part, was beginning to get a bit overwhelmed by having to fight the two Dark-Siders simultaneously. His brother in particular seemed hellbent on killing him. Unsurprising really when Daemon thought about it. Nevertheless, he kept his lightsaber up as he blocked each of Drakot's strikes. As he did, he could see plainly that between the increasing lack of speed in the blows and Drakot's heavy panting, he too was beginning to tire. Daemon decided to use that to his advantage. He kept his guard up and waited for Drakot to make a mistake…

It came when Drakot became a bit too bold with his next thrust, and Daemon used that to take the offensive. He swatted the blade away with his own and moved in, slashing here and there at Drakot. At the last moment, Daemon broke his offensive and slashed at Drakot's now exposed lightsaber hilt, cleaving his double-saber in two. Drakot looked at the two broken halves of his lightsaber in shock.

"It's over Drakot. You don't know how to use two single blades in tandem, and it's been too long since you last used only one blade"

Drakot snarled with anger. Throwing aside one of the two broken halves, he ran at Daemon with the other, still determined to kill him. Their lightsabers met with a brilliant flash as they resumed their lightsaber duel, which was now a traditional battle of single blades…

But as Daemon had predicted, Drakot was far less skilled with using a single-bladed lightsaber. It had been years since he had last used one, and he was out of practice. It was clear with every half-hearted strike he made. Add to that his exhaustion from the constant dueling, and Daemon felt that he had the edge, but was careful not to let his overconfidence get the better of him. Drakot would re-adjust to a single blade quickly enough…

As Daemon and Drakot continued their duel, Daemon just barely saw Bastila coming in for another go in time to dodge her attack. Daemon ducked under Bastila's strike and then kicked Drakot back as Bastila got ready to attack him once more. Daemon shouted out to her:

"You've lost Bastila! With me fighting you, you can't use your battle meditation, and as we speak the tide is beginning to turn! Already three of your own ships have been taken over and are decimating your own forces!"

Bastila scowled. It was true of course, she had received the news on the Sith comm channels that three of their own ships, _The Cyclops, The Hydra, and The Chimera, _had opened fire on the Covenant ships, which had caused the Covenant fleet to turn on them. They were now decimating one another. And then there wa the news on the ground that the Republic forces were putting up quite the fight…

But Bastila refused to admit any of this. "Jedi Fool. We still have more than enough troops to burn this whole planet to the ground. And those commandeered Sith warships won't last long now that they know what's going on. You may have stopped me from intervening, but you're only delaying the inevitable."

Daemon grimaced under his helmet. Bastila was at least partially correct: the Sith and the Covenant still had more than enough firepower to seize the planet, and it only was a matter of time before they all got overwhelmed unless either the Sith and Covenant ground forces turned on each-other just like the fleets, or something else changed, and fast…

He was shaken out of his thoughts when Bastila ran at him once more.

-X-

Noble Six and Sergeant Stacker sped off to where the civilian transports were taking off in the warthog, gunning down or running over any Covenant or Sith troopers they encountered along the way. Finally, they came to the stairway leading to the pad. Deciding to be daring, Noble Six drove the warthog up the stairs and onto the pad itself, which was currently under siege from scores of Sith Troopers and War Droids, which were killing scores of soldiers and civilians alike with their weapons.

Seeing civilians being mercilessly slaughtered by blaster fire caused Noble Six's blood to boil. Gunning the warthog forward, Noble Six rammed the vehicle right into a couple of war droids, destroying them instantly, and then continued to drive forward, running several more droids over as Sergeant Stacker used the turret to cut down the accompanying Sith Troopers. Finally, the warthog swerved around and positioned itself so that the passenger seat was facing the approaching Sith forces. The republic commando in said passenger seat opened fire with his blaster rifle as Sergeant Stacker did the same with the turret. Seeing the added firepower of the Warthog gave the remaining republic soldiers a morale boost. As they continued firing, the captain shouted to the civilians.

"Keep running! We'll hold them off for as long as we can!"

As the fighting commenced and the last of the civilians continued to flee, casualties mounted on both sides, and the brief morale boost the Republic soldiers had gotten began to fade as their numbers continued to dwindle. Then things took a serious turn for the worst. Out of the corner of his eye, the Republic commando could see a Sith Grenadier prepping a thermal detonator…

"DIE YOU REPUBLIC DOGS!"

The Republic commando quickly shot the Sith grenadier in the chest but he had already hurled the grenade. The republic commando leaped out of his seat and rolled to the right as the grenade went sailing through the air. Sergeant Stacker was the next one to see it.

"Grenade en route! Abandon the vehicle!"

Noble Six leaped out of the driver seat and Sergeant Stacker abandoned the turret just as the grenade collided with the warthog and completely destroyed the side of the vehicle. Recovering quickly, Noble Six and Sergeant Stacker got up, the latter opening fire on the Sith forces with his assault rifle while Noble Six tried to deflect as many blaster bolts as he could with his lightsaber. The Sith forces retaliated with a withering and merciless hail of blaster fire that continued to cut down Republic soldiers.

"Could really use those ODSTS right about now…" Sergeant Stacker muttered.

"Just hang in sergeant, I'm sure they're on their way…"

The Sith forces continued their advances as the last civilian transports made their getaway. Despite that, the Sith forces pressed on, determined to take down the last of the Republic soldiers and their allies...

Then it happened. Several frag grenades rained down into the Sith Trooper's ranks, and several soldiers and droids were blown away. Everyone else looked up and saw the bull-frogs flying in.

"DEATH FROM ABOVE!" one of the bull-frogs shouted as he landed and blasted a Sith trooper away with his shotgun. The other bull-frogs also landed and opened fire on the Sith Troopers. The bull-frog with the stolen plasma turret used up the last of said turret's plasma fire on the advancing Sith war droids and elite troopers. Upon running out, the bull-frog hurled the turret at another approaching war droid, knocking it down. He quickly drew a pistol and shot a Sith Trooper in the head and killed two more with an SMG he held in his other hand before the Sith's merciless blaster fire cut him down.

"James!"

Now coming under heavy fire, the remaining five bull-frogs fell back with Noble Six, Sergeant Stacker, and what remained of the Republic troops.

"OK, this landing pad's theirs. We need to fall back. Bull-frogs, get your jetpacks ready, cause you're going down first. Each of you take one of the soldiers with you."

"Yes sir."

The Bull-Frogs each grabbed a republic soldier and jumped off the side of the building with them, using their jetpacks to ease their descent. Unfortunately, one Sith Trooper with good aim shot the jetpack of one of the bull-frogs, rupturing it, which caused it to explode, killing the bull-frog and sending the unlucky republic soldier he had been holding to fall to his death. The others however, were able to jump off and descend successfully, with Noble Six carrying Sergeant Stacker. Finally, the group descended, right in the middle of another firefight, this one between Republic soldiers and Elites, the former using a mess of wrecked speeders as a crude barricade.

"Hey guys, get over here, we could use some help!"

Noble Six nodded and rushed over with everyone else to the pinned Republic soldiers. Together, they all opened fire on the approaching Elites, and were able to shoot down a few. They neglected to notice a pair of stealth Elites de-cloak behind them though…

Two loud shots rang out. The group turned to see the two stealth Elites behind them fall down dead. Noble Six looked up and saw Jun and Linda with their sniper rifles.

"Remember to watch your backside boys"

"Right now we've kind of got more to worry about up front…"

The group turned back to face the front and re-engaged the Elites that kept coming at them. Between all of them, it didn't take long for even the Ultra to fall.

"I must say Six, it's good to have you back on our side…and with a lightsaber no less."

"Thanks Jun. Good to be back…"

The three SPARTANS were interrupted by the sudden sound of Kat's voice on their coms:

"Attention all forces, Covenant and Sith forces have taken half the city. All remaining forces fall back to the designated locations. We make our final stand there…"

"Final stand?"

"Of course Six" Jun replied. "You've seen how many of these guys there are. Too many, even for us. Our best bet now is to all stand united and hope that the Chief and Kurt take down Revan and the other half of the Covvie fleet. Otherwise, we're all dead."

"YOU'RE DEAD NOW!"

The whole group turned to see Commodus the Brute Chieftain charging at them, gravity hammer swinging wildly. Everyone ducked to one side except for a pair of unfortunate Republic soldiers who were cut down by the massive Brute. As it recovered, the other Republic soldiers closed in. Commodus let out a howl of fury and spun around, swatting another soldier away before Jun shot him in the back. Noble Six and two of the bull-frogs then tackled the Brute to the ground, where one of the bull-frogs proceeded to shoot him with his shotgun until it ran out of shells.

"What the hell was that?"

"A Brute Chieftain. It's dead now…"

But Commodus wasn't quite dead. He chuckled weakly, right before he did expire, which caught Noble Six's attention. He turned and his blood froze upon seeing a pair of Wraiths drive up.

"TAKE THOSE WRAITHS DOWN NOW!"

One of the bull-frogs brandishing a rocket launcher nodded and fired his two rockets at the first wraith, blowing it up before it could fire. The other Wraith however, let loose with its plasma cannons, causing everyone to scramble for cover. Jun went to one side though, and aimed his sniper rifle at the Brute manning the turret. His shot was a clear kill, but he neglected to notice the Wraith turning to face him and fire its mortar cannon as he made the shot…

The whole scene happened so quickly that those watching didn't know what to make of it. Just that there was a massive explosion that enveloped where Jun had been standing before the one bull-frog's rocket launcher destroyed the wraith before it could fire again.

"JUN!"

Linda ran forward first, sifting through the flames and smoke, only to find nothing but Jun's SCOUT helmet, lying on the ground, scorched, beaten, and with the visor mostly gone. Jun's sniper rifle was not that much further from it. Seeing that these two things were all that was left of her fellow SPARTAN sniper struck something in Linda like a lightning bolt, but she did her best not to show it. She walked over to the sniper rifle and inserted its ammunition into her own.

"Rest in peace Jun…you were almost as good a shot as I was, and that's saying a lot. I'll make every one of your shots count arrow-head. Every one…"

Sergeant Stacker, though he felt the sadness of Jun's sacrifice as much as the others, decided to point out the obvious:

"Command's giving the order to fall back…with all due respect…I think we should all go."

Linda nodded solemnly. After a moment of silence, Noble Six gave out the order:

"Everyone, fall back and head to the rendezvous point."

And with that, the motley assembly of SPARTANS, ODSTS, Republic soldiers, and one Marine Sergeant took off, with only Linda stopping for a second to take one last thoughtful look back at Jun's broken helmet…

**Author's Note: Holy crap…that turned out way longer then I thought it did. Heh, go figure. Anyway, just two chapters left…thanks to everyone who has reviewed thus far!**


	17. Chapter 17: Destroying the Ring

Chapter 17: Destroying the Ring

**Author's Note: Here we are…the grand finale! I really, really apologize for the delay. Writer's Block, School, and the absolute worst computer in human history ensured that I have only now finished and uploaded this chapter. Thanks to those who have hung in up to this point. For them I say just this: prepare for the climax!**

So it was true…The Master Chief grappled with the ramifications of this new revelation. So the Halo Ring would annihilate all sentient life that could sustain the Flood if activated. Needless to say, that extra bit of information instantly changed Master Chief's mind on the Halo Ring being a feasible option for dealing with the Flood. It also meant that 5899 Rueful Sentry really did know more than he had let on, as the Chief had suspected…

As it was, the monitor was quick to defend itself: "Please do not bear me any ill feelings reclaimer, I am simply obeying my programming and executing the only logical solution to the Flood problem. I meant no deception; I thought you already knew that your actions would ultimately cost you your lives and those of your species…"

Kurt was the one to speak up to that: "No! We didn't know! And now that we do, there's no chance in hell we're activating this ring!"

"Please calm yourself reclaimer. There is simply no other alternative. The ring must be activated to stop the Flood…"

"There has to be another way! We can't just sacrifice a whole galaxy!"

"It is what my creators did thousands of years ago, and it is what must be done now. Please understand: I take no pleasure at all in this, in fact, I've rather enjoyed the time we've spent together, but what must be done must be done…"

Seeing that the argument was going nowhere, Master Chief decided to intervene: "All right "Monitor" listen: The Forerunners made the Halo Ring to stop the Flood, am I right?"

"Yes…"

"But then what's the point of stopping the Flood if there's no one left to appreciate it?"

"Not true. Non-sentient life and sentient life without the proper physiology to sustain the Flood would be unaffected, and they would eventually evolve into new forms of sentient life…so part of the Galaxy would still live on."

"The Forerunners did this once before, but just look at how well it worked. All they did was wipe out civilizations uselessly, including their own."

"No, they made a valiant sacrifice—"

The Chief kept at it. He had the Monitor backpedaling. "Your creators killed themselves, and their sacrifice was in vain. If it wasn't, then there wouldn't be Flood all over your precious ring right now. It didn't work."

"But—"

Master Chief cut the Monitor off once again, seeing that he was backing him against a corner and that he just had to keep at it to make the Monitor see reason. As it was, he had one last trump card to play:

"And besides, you like us, don't you?"

"Well, yes…you are quite fascinating individuals…so much more imperfect then machines…but in an intriguing sort of way…It's just…."

"Listen if you activate this ring, all of us, and everyone like us, will be gone. Gone forever. Any sentient life that might come after us will never be just like us. You'll never get to see us ever again. Is that what you want?"

"Well, I…" The Monitor trailed off, unsure of how to respond. Master Chief smirked underneath his helmet. It was working. Faced with the Chief's relentless logic, the Monitor would either submit, or go berserk and attack, at which point the Chief and Revan would destroy him. Either way, Master Chief won.

Finally, the Monitor gave its answer: "…I...yes reclaimer, you are correct. I do enjoy your eccentric and amusing company a great deal, and it would be a shame to see you go…but the Flood must still be stopped, I stand by that assertion."

"I agree with you there, but it doesn't have to be with the Ring. There's got to be another way… what if we destroyed the ring instead?"

"DESTROY THE INSTALLATION? Have you gone mad? The installation must be kept intact at all costs!"

"Look, listen: if the Flood haven't gotten off of the ring yet, then destroying it will wipe them all out. Right here, right now. Isn't that much more quick and efficient than just starving them all? Besides, if we're not going to fire the ring, then what the hell good is it anyway?"

"But….but…yes, yes, you are correct. Destroying this installation would indeed result in the destruction of all Flood forces. But then where will _**I**_ go? And what of my creator's records and legacy?"

It was then when Revan spoke up: "Not to worry Monitor. I have downloaded all of your people's archives and records into my personal Holocron. Your people's legacy will be safe there."

"I see…very well reclaimer. We shall go ahead with your bold plan on the condition that I may come with you when you destroy this installation"

"Oh Hell no…"

"Shut up Cortana. Yes, it's a deal."

"Excellent! But, just as a warning: if your plan fails, then I will go ahead with my original plan of activating the ring"

_Oh brother… _The Monitor was hard to argue with. But Master Chief decided to play it safe, even though he knew he was gambling with the lives of the entire galaxy.

"Deal"

"Very well then. Now, in order to destroy this installation, I recommend detonating the fusion reactors of the vessels that have landed on the ring. Their combined detonation should be more than enough to tear the installation apart. Oh my, this actually sounds like it might be rather fun!"

"We'll need to reach the Covenant vessels that have landed first…"

"Not to worry! There are still a few vessels from my creator's war with the Flood left over. I should be able to operate them myself and take us to these "Covenant vessels" as you call them. Then you can go and destroy them."

"All right then. Take us to the hangar."

"Of course"

And with that, the Monitor went over to the elevator that the group had previously rode up on and set its destination for Hangar 7. Master Chief and Kurt where the first ones on, followed by Johnson and the Marines, and finally, Revan and his two Sith Troopers. As they all took the elevator down, Cortana whispered to the Chief:

"You're a genius, you know that right?"

"Just employing some common sense and logic that the Monitor just couldn't resist. That said, it actually went better than I had expected. I thought that Revan and I would have to destroy him. Seeing how we wouldn't be able to pull this plan off without him it's probably a good thing we didn't."

"Yeah…I probably could of pulled all this off though…"

"I'm sure."

-X-

The situation back on Coruscant had deteriorated considerably. The Republic forces and what precious little remained of their UNSC allies had been beaten back into one corner where they were prepared for a final stand against the approaching Covenant and Sith forces. Oceans of bodies littered the ruined cityscape, the wreckage of destroyed ships from above smashed to the surface, and the situation looked thoroughly hopeless as the Covenant and Sith forces slaughtered any and all in their way, regardless of whether or not they were actually fighting them. One group of unlucky Republic soldiers were but one of many such groups that were slaughtered while making their way to the rendezvous point.

But of course The Covenant and Sith were now also fighting each-other. Thanks to the efforts of the SPARTAN-led boarding parties, the alliance between the two groups had evaporated, and now Sith and Covenant forces engaged each-other in shoot-outs of blaster rifles and plasma repeaters, lightsabers and Sith tremor swords trading blows with energy swords. The two now seemed more occupied with killing each-other then they had been with taking out their original enemies.

They were evenly matched too. For nearly every group of Sith the Covenant slaughtered, another squad of Covenant were cut down by blaster fire, blown up by thermal detonators, or torn apart by the Dark Side.

Meanwhile, Kat's plan to hijack and use Sith capital ships against the Covenant fleet, effectively turning the two sides against one another, while successful, had still cost the lives of nearly all of the forces involved. Captain Keyes continued to command the _Pillar of Autumn_, now smoking and on the verge of being completely destroyed. Knowing that the _Autumn _was finished, Captain Keyes decided to at least die with the knowledge of what had happened to the Chief and Kurt…

-X-

As Master Chief and the others continued their descent into the hangar area, Cortana picked up a transmission from the battle over Coruscant.

"It's Captain Keyes…"

"Patch him through"

Captain Keye's voice crackled to life. Master Chief could sense that the situation was very bad: Keyes had lost most of his trademark hardness. He was sounding weaker. Almost…broken.

"Chief….Chief, is that you? Where are you? Have you accomplished your mission yet?"

Master Chief paused. He wasn't sure what to tell Captain Keyes. As it was, there was a lot to tell, and Keyes would not be happy to hear any of it. The Chief decided on giving the best answer that he could:

"We're working on it sir. But we've encountered heavy resistance" That actually wasn't a lie. But that said, it wasn't exactly the kind of resistance Keyes was probably thinking of…

"We've run out of time SPARTAN. The situation's a nightmare. We've all but lost son. In fact, I only called so I could get some confirmation that you were still alive…"

"What are you saying sir?" For one of the first times in his life since the augmentation process had desensitized him, Master Chief felt genuine concern for a non-SPARTAN…he didn't want Keyes to die.

"I'm saying that I wanted confirmation that you and Kurt were still alive before I ended my military career on a high note"

"Sir, there's no need to be fatalistic, we-"

"I'm afraid it's too late for that son. The _Autumn's_ lost, whether or not we win. I'm just calling to say good-bye, and then I'm going out with a bang."

"But sir…" The Chief heard the channel go dead. He was struggling to maintain his usual calm, cold-blooded persona. He couldn't take this loss. Not now. Not with everything else that he was already faced with. Several different emotions encircled around the Master Chief. But one prevailed over the others. Anger. He turned around to face Revan.

"Call of your attack."

"And why would I do that?" Revan's callous indifference only angered the Chief further. He pulled out his pistol and aimed it at Revan's head.

"Dammit! Call it off NOW!"

Revan raised his hand and sent Master Chief's pistol flying out of his hand and into his.

"Temper, temper. *Sigh*, listen to me you towering green imbecile: I sense that the alliance between the Sith and the Covenant has been rendered null. This means that they will turn on one another. There is no point in me calling off my attack; the Covenant and my Empire are so evenly matched that they'll completely devastate one another, and Coruscant will be saved. I'm sure that the planet's defenses, severely weakened as they are, will be able to deal with whatever remains from both sides after they're done with one another. As it is, I can't help but be left greatly frustrated that my victory has been seized from me at the last moment. Of course my campaign _has_ become somewhat irrelevant in the grand scheme of things now anyway…"

There was silence after this. The Chief tried to take it all in and think about what it all meant. The Sith and Covenant turning on one another was definitely a good turn of events. If they could focus on killing one another instead of finishing off Coruscant's defenders, then maybe the UNSC hadn't lost yet. But then that got the Chief and Cortana wondering…

"How did you get the Covenant to make an alliance with you?" Cortana finally asked. "They hate all humans…"

"What can I say? I guess I'm just special"

"Not funny" Master Chief replied menacingly. "I want an answer."

Revan sighed. It was clear that he thought the Master Chief was an idiot but nevertheless chose to indulge him, which in of itself irritated the Chief even more.

"Very well: the answer to how I got an army compromised of aliens that seek the deaths of every last human being in the galaxy to pursue such a long-term alliance with some of said humans is this: I _**made**_ them be willing. You see, I can be very…charismatic, when I want to be. Even when I was a young Jedi Knight in the Mandalorian Wars, I had a natural talent for compelling Jedi and Republic soldier alike to follow me against the Mandalorians. Oh yes many did so on their own free will after I convinced them that those genocidal mad-men had to be stopped, but others needed a bit more convincing…that's when one of my many talents came into play: you see, I have learned how to harness the Force into a means of subtly convincing people to see things my way. Combine that with my natural charisma, and it's really quite easy to get people to follow me. So when I learned of this temporary alliance that had been formed with these religious fanatics from another galaxy, I used my powers of persuasion to influence their choices and get them to follow me against their better judgment, as I've always done with others. And so they continued their alliance with us for much longer then they had intended, and they didn't even know it. And as time passed, they, like many who have spent too much time around me, went from being reluctant followers, to being completely subservient to me…until your friends did something that severed the connection."

Master Chief allowed a rare smile to appear underneath his helmet. He couldn't help but feel some satisfaction that his friends had outplayed the Dark Lord of the Sith.

But then Revan added:

"As I said, it is unfortunate that this alliance ended. Those Covenant were quite useful. And now they're massacring my forces as we speak. Ah well. I can always use the Star Forge to make more ships…although finding more men might prove difficult…"

Master Chief interrupted him. "Not a chance. Once we stop the Flood you can better believe we're taking you down next"

"I second that Chief." Sergeant Johnson added. "Let his bastard join the covvies and his Sith buddies in hell"

"Please understand what I seek to do: the Republic is weak, broken, ineffectual, and stagnant. Its corruption threatens to tear it apart from within. Simply put: it needs reform, as it has needed reform before. I simply seek to be the one to rebuild it. You see contrary to what you might think I am not just a murderous lunatic. I do have higher motives"

"So do the Prophets and whoever else runs the Covenant." Cortana replied angrily. "You wouldn't call them murderous lunatics?"

"I have never really believed in mass genocide in the name of religion, and certainly not as a higher motive…in fact, I suspect that those "Prophets" really don't care that much about their religion…they just like the power it gives them, the ability to make several races, all of them physically stronger than them, serve them mindlessly…it's like anyone else who has such power…myself included"

"What about you're Sith Empire? Aren't your wars with the Jedi-?"

"Ah, but see that is a common misconception among non-Force sensitives: The Sith and the Jedi are not religions, they are philosophies; different interpretations of what the Force is and how it should be treated. In the case of the Sith, we do not fear using the Dark Side as a means to an end, or…for other purposes…."

It was about then when Kurt chipped in: "And by "other purposes" you mean murder, torture, conquest, and war-mongering right?"

Revan turned to Kurt and Master Chief could almost sense the wicked grin under Revan's mask as he gave his reply: "Sometimes. Depends on the Sith Lord really…"

It was about then when the elevator stopped. The doors opened, and out flew the Monitor.

"Come! This way! There is a shuttle on the far end of this hangar that will take us to the designated vessels…"

The group followed the monitor to the ship in question and where greeted with a massive behemoth of a vessel, brown in color, with two large wings sticking out of the sides on the top, a dorsal fin on the back, three pairs of thrusters on the rear, and what Master Chief assumed could only be cannons on the front end. There was also a moderate sized viewport, where the Master Chief could make out some sort of control panel inside…

"Magnificent isn't it? Its one of the last few vessels of its kind still intact. Most of the others were destroyed against the Flood…"

The Monitor flew in, happily humming to himself as the others followed on board. Once on board, the Monitor fired a thin, bluish-hued beam at the console, and the whole ship came alive, lighting up, and raising itself from its landing platform as it prepared to fly off.

"And away we go!" The Monitor gleefully announced. And indeed, the hangar doors opened, unveiling the still serene environment of the Halo ring, and he Forerunner shuttle flew off to its destination.

-X-

As the fighting on Coruscant continued, the surviving Republic and UNSC forces could see plainly that the Sith and the Covenant had now mostly forgotten about them, and took advantage of this to remobilize and strike out at isolated pickets of resistance that they came across. As Noble Six and others killed several more unlucky Sith troopers, the SPARTAN radioed Kat:

"We're doing good here Kat. The last of the Sith have been neutralized."

"Good. Head back to the rendezvous point, I could use some help in clearing out my part of the city."

"Understood. I'm on my wa—"

"Traitor!"

Before Noble Six could do anything, an injured Dark Jedi was upon him, savagely attacking him with strikes from his lightsaber. Caught off-guard, Noble Six could only block a few of the blows before the Dark Jedi landed another strike…

Noble Six felt a searing pain followed by a scream of agony. He collapsed to his knees as nearby Republic soldiers finished off his assailant. One of the soldiers then rushed to Noble Six's side.

"Six? Six are you all right?" Kat asked panicking.

The Republic soldier grabbed Noble Six's com: "Ma'am…the super-soldier has lost his arm"

-X-

Word of the Covenant and Sith Empire turning on one another had reached Bastila, and she was left completely dumbfounded by the news, and also incredulous that the Sith had completely forgotten about who their true enemies were. She was incensed beyond all measure, but for once, this was her downfall: she was so distracted it gave Daemon the opportunity he needed to finally finish his duel with her. She was not ready for him and so his lightsaber prowess and the might of his force pushes sent her tumbling off of the side of the terrace. Daemon did not sense her pass into the Force but knew that she was now nevertheless out of his hair.

Now only his brother remained. Daemon turned to face him once more. Both of their arms had grown weak and sore from the constant battle, and they both felt drained from continuously calling on the Force for so long. Daemon wasn't even sure how long they had fought. He looked at his brother, and could see very plainly the toll the battle had taken on him: his lightsaber was being held only very loosely in his hands, and his black and red variation of the usual Dark Jedi attire had sustained damage and burns that were far beyond a mere tailor's ability to mend. Now that the tide of battle had turned and that their own personal duel was over, Daemon attempted to reason with Drakot:

"Drakot…neither one of us can continue like this. The Sith have lost; your allies from the other galaxy have turned on you, the two armies are going to annihilate one another, and once that happens, you will be alone against three different armies. But _we_ don't have to kill one another..."

"Do not ask me to rejoin the Light. I have forsaken the light. As it has forsaken me"

"Don't say that. We can clean the slate and start over together. You don't have to die a villain brother…"

"We share blood and the Force both" Drakot replied venomously "…but we are not brothers."

"Then I can see very plainly that there is nothing more I can do for you. You've chosen your path. Now leave."

"What? You're just going to let a Sith like me walk away? Not much of a Jedi are you?"

"Choice must extend to those who choose unwisely. As I said, you don't have to keep embracing the Dark Side. You can relinquish it. Let it go, move on, start anew…"

"Over my dead body!" Drakot raised his red lightsaber once more, though Daemon could very plainly see that it was taking a lot of effort on his part to do so.

"Or better yet, YOURS!"

"Don't try it Drakot. You'll only get yourself killed"

"NO MORE WORDS! Defend yourself or die!"

And with that, Drakot lunged forward, now giving in fully to his animal impulses, and Daemon, resigned to the fact that his brother as he knew him was long dead with only a monster remaining, prepared to meet him one last time.

It was a brutally quick exchange. Daemon blocked Drakot's strike, parried two more blows, and with one more swing of his lightsaber, Drakot fell dead. Daemon then deactivated his blue lightsaber and stared blankly at the fallen form of the man who had once been his brother and fellow Jedi Knight…

"Rest in peace Drakot. May you find the calm and serenity that eluded you here in the world beyond…"

-X-

By the time the Forerunner vessel arrived at its destination the Covenant cruiser _Truth and Reconciliation_, the Flood had since gotten loose, with combat forms and infection forms alike swarming across the once serene landscape, doing battle with the Covenant forces there. Seeing this only served to remind all on board the vessel of the urgency of their desperate plan. This was the last throw of the dice: a final daring attempt to stop the Flood before they spread beyond the confines of the Halo Ring and then to the rest of the galaxy. If they did get loose, then there would be no hope for the galaxy that had already been severely weakened by a long series of bloody wars. Even the escape of a single Flood Infection Form could prove disastrous. Therefore it was imperative that they not only hurry, but that they destroy all Flood on the ring, completely and utterly. Otherwise it would all be for nought.

With that in mind, Master Chief readied himself by ensuring that he was fully armed for the fight. His shotgun was holstered on his back, and in his hand he held an assault rifle that was all set to tear apart any and all Flood that came at him. Kurt had armed himself similarly, but went for something a bit less subtle to accompany his shotgun: a rocket launcher.

"A big gun doesn't make a big man Kurt. Besides…that thing has less ammo."

"True. But it does pack one vicious punch with every shot." Kurt turned to Revan, and could see him just standing idly as usual.

"So… you gonna bust out a pair of those double-bladed lightsabers I've seen when we get down there and lay into the Flood like it's nobody's business?"

"Don't be ridiculous. No creature short of a Wookie or Beaslisk could ever wield two dual-bladed sabers at once. But don't worry. I do plan on dealing with these parasites with nothing short of my full power."

"OK then…"

Cortana's voice came on:

"We're here"

The group looked outside and saw, sure enough, _Truth and Reconciliation, _the Covenant vessel that they intended to destroy, and through that destruction, the Halo Ring and the Flood. It was quite a large Covenant vessel to be sure, which meant that it would be more than suitable for their purpose. The Forerunner shuttle touched down, and the ramp was lowered. Kurt turned to Sergeant Johnson:

"Sergeant, stay behind and guard the ship. We'll need our escape vessel intact when, or if, we succeed and the time comes to run like hell."

"And let you two and that nut hog all the fun? Not a chance. My Marines and tinker-bell there can guard the ship. But I'm coming with you."

Kurt sighed. "Very well Sergeant Major. But try and keep up"

Sergeant Johnson grunted. "Son, I could have been your daddy, but…ah never mind"

And so, the group of four; Master Chief, Darth Revan, Kurt, and Sergeant Johnson, all moved out together to complete their mission. Upon entering the ship via the central grav life, they found that the Flood had already beaten them to the ship, reminding them all the more that they had to hurry. They passed through the doors that had been forced open by the Flood, and made their way through the ship's corridors, a complete mess of Covenant corpses and Flood remains. Cortana directed them to their destination, and they arrived at the Fusion Reactor chamber.

The chamber was very brightly lit courtesy of being so close to the reactors. The light was almost blinding up close, so the group kept their distance. Master Chief turned to Revan:

"I take it you can sabotage these?"

"Yes, they do appear to be somewhat sensitive. I believe a few blasts of Force Lightning will be enough to disrupt them…although you will first need to destabilize the magnetic containment field that surrounds them…"

Kurt hefted his rocket launcher.

"Not a problem. You all may want to stand back though…"

The other three heeded his warning and Kurt let fly with his rocket. The explosion did indeed disrupt the barriers, and when the dust settled, Revan stepped forward once more.

"I believe I can do the rest."

But just as Revan was about to fire his blasts of Force Lightning, Master Chief picked up footsteps coming up behind, and rapidly. Reacting quickly, Master Chief pushed Sergeant Johnson out of the way and shot the cloaked Elite at point-blank range with his shotgun. The Elite's energy shields dispersed and a follow up shot took it down. Master Chief turned to the others.

"Spec Ops Elite. And I think there may be mo—"

"Denn!"

Master Chief and the others saw that several more Elites had arrived. Namely Supreme Commander Thel 'Vadamee, Reggad 'Nogardee, and two Elite Minors. Reggad was the most devastated by the death of his old friend.

"MURDERER!" Reggad shouted at Master Chief, and drew his twin plasma rifles. The two minors followed suit, each one brandishing a Plasma Repeater.

Master Chief, Kurt, Revan, and Johnson were all smart enough to know that the Covenant would never listen to reason, and would definitely never let them destroy their vessel and sacred ring. Therefore, things were going to have to get ugly.

"Four of them, four of us. No one lose"

The four Elites roared in fury. The Supreme Commander drew his Energy Sword and ran towards the four humans, his weapon meeting Darth Revan's red lightsaber. Reggad opened fire with his twin Plasma Rifles in a deadly exchange with the Master Chief. Sergeant Johnson followed suit with one of the minors, while Kurt prepared to blow the other minor away with his rocket launcher, only to be forced to duck out of the way when the Elite hurled a plasma grenade his way. The Elite used that to move in, dodging the rocket Kurt managed to fire at him. The rocket sailed through the air and struck the wall facing the doorway. The Elite closed in further and swatted Kurt's rocket launcher out of his hands as the SPARTAN was reloading it. He then attempted to grab him only to have his energy shields completely destroyed by a blast from Kurt's shotgun. The Elite attempted to backpedal but was not fast enough. Kurt lunged forward and struck his skull with the butt end of his shotgun, putting as much force as he could into the blow. The Elite was killed instantly.

Seeing yet another one of his friends and brothers perish threw Reggad into an even greater frenzy than before. He holstered his plasma rifles and gripped a plasma grenade in each hand, hurling both with reckless abandon. Master Chief moved out of the way of one in time, but turned and saw the other was headed in Sergeant Johnson's direction.

"Johnson!"

Sergeant Johnson turned and dived out of the way of the plasma grenade, which sailed through the air until landing and detonating on an unoccupied space.

"Thanks Chief! We keep this up, these bastards will destroy their own sh—"

Johnson was cut off when the Elite Minor he had been fighting grabbed him by the throat and held him aloft, all set to crush his wind pipe when Sergeant Johnson shot him at point blank with his assault rifle, emptying his entire clip into the Elite which forced him to release Johnson as he backpedaled and his energy shields gave way. Johnson quickly reloaded and finished the Elite off with another spray of bullets. The Master Chief meanwhile, ducked behind cover, his energy shields having been disrupted by a withering hail of Plasma fire from Reggad's two Plasma Rifles.

Meanwhile, Darth Revan and the Supreme Commander continued their duel. The fact that Revan was unused to fighting a foe with such a weapon hindered his usual dueling strategies somewhat, allowing the Elite to give him more trouble than he had any right to. There was also the commander's size to take into consideration. Even the SPARTANS were not as tall. And indeed, the Commander factored his size into his attack strategy, trying to force Revan to backpedal by forcing his entire weight on him.

Still, Revan kept up his defense, utilizing Soresu to block each strike of the Energy Sword as it came, taking care to let his foe gain as little ground as possible. And sure enough, the superior swordsmanship and discipline of Revan allowed him to gain the upper hand. He soon made the transition from Soresu to Makashki and Juyo and took the offensive, soon having the Supreme Commander on his toes. Growing desperate, the Supreme Commander made a slash with his energy sword intending to decapitate Revan, only for the wily Sith Lord to duck and retaliate with several more slashes, utilizing every form of lightsaber combat that he cared to employ without reservation, managing to succeed in delivering a strike to the Supreme Commander's side, which almost completely dispelled his energy shields.

Roaring in anger, the Supreme Commander made an upward slash, which Revan side-stepped to avoid, although the slash did deliver a scar across the side of his breastplate. Revan quickly moved back in, trading strike after strike, blow after blow with the mighty Sangheili. Finally, they engaged in a lock of their respective weapons, with the Supreme Commander forcing all of his weight on Revan in the hopes of breaking the lock first.

"I will…slay you, human. For your manipulating my brothers…"

"Oh please. You'd have vowed to slay me just for walking in your presence. Or just for being a human"

"You will not…destroy our sacred ring…"

"Sigh. You and your ridiculous theocracy. I'd be hard-pressed to find a more blinding religion or philosophy than yours…"

Suddenly, Revan broke the lock prematurely and spun around as the Supreme Commander reeled back. Soon regaining his footing, the Supreme Commander went at Revan again, only for Revan to suddenly materialize his second lightsaber. As its purple blade met the Supreme Commander's energy sword, Revan took advantage of the Supreme Commander's brief surprise to spin around and strike him with his red lightsaber before he could react in time. With the Supreme Commander's energy shields almost completely disrupted from the blow, Revan quickly dodged the Supreme Commander's retaliating strikes, and landed another strike that completely dispelled the Supreme Commander's energy shields. The bold strike however, did elicit a vengeful counter-attack from the Supreme Commander that managed to leave a deep cut in Revan's shoulder area. Revan steeled himself despite the intense pain, and backpedaled as he used the Force to heal his wound. The Supreme Commander moved in once more, joined by Reggad, who had ceased his fire on the Master Chief and was running into the fray with his own energy sword drawn.

But Revan was ready. He spun around the Supreme Commander so that he was now behind him. Revan then turned his attentions to Reggad, exchanging blows with the Elite Major, before spinning around again. As he did, Revan activated a second blade on his red lightsaber that went right through Reggad's red-orange armor, effectively impaling him. Revan pulled the blade out and Reggad fell.

"NOOOO!"

The Supreme Commander roared in fury, and ran at Revan with renewed ferocity, bringing his energy sword down on the Sith Lord. Revan deactivated the second blade on his red lightsaber and side-stepped to avoid the Supreme Commander's slash. He then backpedaled as he met the next strike of the Supreme Commander's energy sword. He easily parried the blows and forced the Supreme Commander back with many a swing from one or both of his lightsabers. Soon, he had disarmed the Supreme Commander of his energy sword and hurled him into one of the fusion reactors with the Force.

Upon colliding with the fusion reactor, the Supreme Commander was hit with an intense electrical shock that short-circuited his energy shields almost instantly, and then continued to electrocute him before he was blasted back where he lay still, his once proud shining gold armor now scorched and smoking.

"Ouch. I don't think that even my Force Lightning could have given him a shock like that…"

Revan turned to see Sergeant Johnson and Kurt, with his reloaded rocket launcher in hand. Kurt eyed Revan's lightsabers.

"I saw that trick you pulled on the Zealot. So you can't dual-wield double-sabers, but you can use one in tandem with a regular lightsaber?"

"No. What you saw there was just that: a trick. Nothing more. I wouldn't have been able to use my lightsabers that way. Not to their full effectiveness"

Cortana's voice interrupted the conversation: "If you're all done comparing kills, the fusion reactors still need to be destroyed!"

"Ah yes, of course. I believe I was the one who was overloading them…"

And with that, Revan put his lightsabers away, stepped forward, and blasted at the fusion reactors with the full strength and power of his force lightning. Not surprisingly, it did not take long for the fusion reactors, some of which had already been damaged in the battle, to become completely overloaded. Soon, they sputtered and died, before than exploding in massive indigo-colored blasts. Pleased with his work, Revan turned to the others.

"I believe that that finishes off the fusion reactors…"

"Yes, that did it! The engine's going critical! Based on the current rate of decay, we should have about fifteen minutes to get off the ship"

"That's more than enough time, if we sprint it. Come on, let's move!"

No sooner had he given the command did Master Chief take off, using his enhanced speed granted to him by the augmentation process to sprint through the blood-stained halls of the battle-cruiser. Kurt and Johnson followed right behind, and Revan sprinted forward with the aid of the Force alongside them. As the group was running, Cortana's voice came alive once more:

"Activating final countdown timer. When it reaches zero, the engines will detonate. The explosion will generate a temperature of over 100,000,000 degrees. Let's not be here when it blows."

The group continued running and made good headway: they were already nearing the exit after but a few minutes of running, only for an explosion to tear through and block off the entrance. Revan outstretched his hand and blasted the rubble away, allowing the group to continue. As they did, the ship's lights flickered on and off repeatedly, a sure of sign of power being lost. Sparks from various damaged technology and ship areas were flying, what few Covenant soldiers still lived fled in terror, and the alarms were ringing louder than ever. Eventually, the group arrived back at the cargo bay from which they had entered. Now they simply had to go back down the grav lift…

An explosion tore through as they entered the cargo bay. The entire ceiling caved in, forcing Revan to use the force to keep the rubble from falling down completely. Another explosion tore through, and it became increasingly obvious that the entire ship was already falling apart, its mortal wounds having been dealt long before the fusion reactors had been destroyed. And so as Revan continued to hold up the ceiling with the force, the others neared the grav lift…

The group heard a fierce roar as they were about to activate the lift. They turned and saw that the Supreme Commander was still alive, and was charging towards them in a frenzy. He viciously tackled Master Chief, forcing the SPARTAN back, before than attempting to punch him. Master Chief held his ground against the Elite's blows, before grabbing him, and using all of his enhanced strength, hurled him across the bay. The Supreme Commander crashed down with a loud thud that also knocked his helmet off. Master Chief ran up to him and forced him up against the wall, when he noticed that they were near an escape pod. Slamming the Supreme Commander into the pod controls to force it open, Master Chief than pushed the Elite into the pod, shut the door, and ejected it. The escape pod launched, and the Supreme Commander was sent floating away into space.

"He was one tough son-of-a bitch."

"Yeah, he was tough." Master Chief replied wearily. "But that Elite's definitely out of our hair now."

The cargo bay shook violently once again, and that was everyone's cue that they needed to leave. Master Chief turned to Revan, who still held the ceiling above them with the Force, still not tiring it seemed, but nevertheless still exerting himself.

"Revan!" The Chief called out to him. Revan turned to face him and Master Chief continued. "Come on! The whole ship's falling apart!"

"Oh, so you care about me now? I'm touched. No, someone has to hold all of this rubble so the rest of you can escape, and as much as it pains me to go out in such a fashion, I really have no choice. Tell the Monitor that he is in charge of my holocron now. And if you attempt to access it yourself, well, let's just say you'll end up badly hurt. Now go"

Master Chief looked on in total awe. Here was the man that he and Kurt were supposed to have killed and yet things went in the completely opposite direction. They had been forced to work as allies. And through it all, Revan had not deceived them once. Quite honestly, he had been a more consistent ally than the Monitor had been. So he did have a sense of honor. But he was still a megalomaniacal mass-murderer with delusions of grandeur, so there was also that. And yet, here he was, doing the honorable thing of choosing to sacrifice himself so the others could escape. He could have easily left them all to die, and then gone back and escaped by himself. And yet he did not. Talk about a gray person.

Kurt's voice shook him out of his thoughts: "Chief, come on!" Kurt called to him. Cortana's voice also rang in his head.

"Come on Chief, let's go! There's only a few minutes left till the countdown hits 0!"

Brought back to reality, the Master Chief followed Kurt and Sergeant Johnson down the grav lift and the three hurried back to the Forerunner vessel. Upon entering, they immediately ordered the Monitor to drive off, barely taking notice of the fact that the two Sith Troopers were no longer among those on board.

"What the hell happened to Revan?" Chips Dubbo asked.

Master Chief and Sergeant Johnson exchanged a glance before Kurt gave the answer: "He didn't make it."

"What? Really? Sheesh…"

As the Forerunner vessel took off, Master Chief, Kurt, and Sergeant Johnson took a long look back at the Halo Ring that for but a few more moments, remained intact, before an explosion ripped through the area of the ring they had flown away from, this piece than flying into the rest of the ring, the entire construct effectively tearing itself apart and also destroying the Covenant vessels still near it in a spectacular fashion. It was a truly awe-inspiring sight to behold.

The Monitor, his installation now gone, was the first to pitch in: "Most unfortunate. It truly was a wondrous creation…"

Cortana sighed in the Master Chief's head. Kurt, meanwhile, asked about the two Sith Troopers.

"One of them got turned into one of the zombie things and we had to kill him. The other one cracked completely once we did that, and we had to shoot him too."

"I see…"

Meanwhile, the Master Chief just gazed on at the stars and the ring's ruins, still continuing to tear themselves apart even more. But Master Chief's prevailing thoughts were not on the Ring, but on Revan. As unsure as he was regarding whether Revan was a complete monster or maybe did have some decency, the one thing Master Chief knew for sure was that Revan was powerful. And he was also smart. Between those two things then, Master Chief had a hard time believing that Revan was really dead. Just like that. They had succeeded in their mission, and yet…

Cortana spoke to Master Chief, as though she could read his thoughts. For all he knew, maybe she could. She was in his head after all…

"He is definitely gone. You know that right? There's no way anyone could have survived that…not even Revan"

"Yeah…did any other Marines make it out? Or are we the only ones?"

"I think you know the answer to that Chief. None of those other Marines on that ring survived. I would have known if they had escaped. We're the only ones; you, me, Kurt, the Sergeant, and Dubbo and Fitzgerald. We're all that's left. None of the Sith on board Revan's flagship _The Basilisk _made it out either. It's just us…"

Yes. It was _always _just them. Or more accurately, it was always just _him. _He, the Master Chief, the one who always survived, no matter how grim the situation, no matter how many others would fall, he would always live to fight another day, in what became more and more a living hell for the SPARTAN-II. He hated be alone…

Well, he wasn't completely alone…there was Kurt. And Kelly and Fred. And Jorge, good old Jorge. And Cortana too…yes. She had become a true companion to him in the short time she'd already been in his head. He'd already grown somewhat attached to the spunky, sassy construct…

Master Chief was shaken out of his thoughts by what Cortana said next: We did what we had to do…for Earth! For two entire galaxies in fact…Halo…the Sith…it's finally over."

The Master Chief sat back down in one of the pseudo-chairs on the vessel, closed his eyes underneath his helmet as he answered: "No, I think we're just getting started…"

-X-

He glanced at the Elite that still lay unconscious near him. How he had survived both the destruction of the ring and also being stabbed by his lightsaber was a mystery he was unlikely to solve, but as it was, there was nothing to be gained from finishing him off. No, he had decided that it was better to just let him lay there for now. He had even chosen to heal him of most of his injuries. He could use the company he figured, however hostile it might be. In time, Revan would seduce him the same way he seduced all who spent too much time around him. He mused over how things had come to their current state:

"The Flood gone, the Covenant gone, my Sith Empire gone, the galaxy ready to embrace a new order now more than ever. Everything worked out…would it perhaps be anti-climactic if I ever pointed out that I had forseen this outcome when offered a choice by Bastila on the Rakatan temple? And that that was why I made the choice that I did? Oh, obviously I couldn't have predicted every detail, no…but I did forsee something like this coming to pass if I chose to re-embrace the Dark Side. Considering that my actions ultimately led to two different galaxies discovering one another and coming to the other's aid, I would say I made the right choice. Had I chosen to remain on the path of the Light, we might never have discovered that other galaxy, and that could have condemned us all…checkmate incidentally"

**Author's Note: Nice twist there huh? You know, in hindsight, this probably could have been split into two chapters, but, no use crying over spilled milk. I'm still immensely satisfied with how this all turned out, and believe it or not, there's still a little more to tell, so hang in for the rest!**


	18. Chapter 18: Homeward Bound

**Author's Note: This is it, the finale! Granted, it's mostly the tying up of loose ends, but its still worth a look. Thanks again to everyone who's held in so far, and once again, I apologize for the long delay. It's been a busy summer. Anyway, enjoy the endings!**

Chapter 18: Homeward Bound

There was, needless to say, a great deal to discuss once the Master Chief and company returned to Coruscant. Granted, all on board the Forerunner vessel agreed that going into any real details regarding the Flood at that point would be unwise, so instead they simply told the brass what they wanted to hear: Revan was dead, and the Sith and Covenant had lost.

With the news that Revan was dead and that his armada had been decimated, the remnants of the Sith began to turn on one another, as had been rightly predicted. The Republic reasoned that by the time they had rejuvenated themselves, the Sith would have already completely destroyed one another, making re-taking the planets they had lost in the war a fairly easy endeavor, assuming of course that those planets had not forsaken the Republic in response to the Republic failing to protect them from the Sith…

And as it was, rejuvenation was most certainly needed. The cost of the last battle alone had been astronomically high: the Republic had lost numerous vessels in the space battle, but their ground casualties were far worse. The Republic's planetary forces had been almost completely annihilated by the Sith and Covenant hordes, with the surviving Republic soldiers numbering in just the hundreds. And though they had evacuated as many civilians as they could, hundreds if not thousands of innocent lives had still been lost in the devastating battle, including numerous senators and the Chancellor himself. And at least half of the cityscape was in ruins, if not more. Between it all, it did not feel like a victory.

Still, the only direction left to go was forward, and now that their worst enemies had been beaten back, the Republic had nothing left to fear, and very little left to lose. And so they immediately set about trying to repair that which could be repaired, those who had been evacuated returned to their devastated planet to help rebuild as well, and almost as soon as something resembling the old Senate building had been built to serve as a temporary replacement, elections for the new Supreme Chancellor were soon underway. The scars were undeniably deep, but the healing had still begun nevertheless…

As for the Jedi Order, their temple had been spared complete and utter destruction, and their most important instructors had all survived, along with the younglings, but very few other Jedi, including those from Daemon's generation, remained. Nevertheless, the Jedi Order understood that they had averted complete destruction, and for that they were grateful, knowing that the Republic that they so proudly served had suffered far worse than they had. Because crime would no doubt run rampant on Coruscant in the wake of the devastation, the Jedi elected to spend most of their time outside of rebuilding on keeping the crime level to a bare minimum. The Republic forces as they were where no longer in any condition to keep fighting…

And as for the UNSC, the _Pillar of Autumn _had been lost, and the legendary Captain Keyes had gone down with it. What few UNSC survivors there were held a silent funeral for him and the others who had been lost, burying the good captain with all of the honors befitting an officer of his rank and then some. Master Chief personally led the seven-gun salute that was fired off in his memory, having been left the most scarred by Keye's sacrifice. The Chief knew that he would never again see his captain bark out orders, or maintain his iron-clad resolve in the face of impossible odds, or even just get to hear his hard, no-nonsense voice that he had grown just a little accustomed to. And there was something very depressing about all of that. In some ways, it was like he had lost his father all over again, or, at the very least, a very good mentor…

And there were others mourned besides. The once proud SPARTAN Noble Team was now down to but half of its members, and only one charter member still remained. As Jun and Emile's bodies had been destroyed and Carter's had been left behind on Reach, the only way to honor the three SPARTANS was a modest display of their helmets that was the centerpiece of a monument erected to honor the fallen.

Once the UNSC funeral was done and Captain Keyes was laid to rest among his fellow fallen marines in Coruscant's own hall of heroes, the UNSC remnants, with Kat taking command by way of having the highest rank, discussed things with both the senate and the Jedi Council. It was agreed that the UNSC had been a welcome ally, but as both the Republic and the Jedi had been so utterly devastated, there was also little they could do in the way of offering them support in their own continuing war with the Covenant. Kat suggested that they locate and use the Star Forge as a game-changer, but the Jedi and Senate both dismissed this suggestion, ruling both the Star Forge and any quest to locate and use it to be far too dangerous, with the Jedi also pointing out how as an item of the Dark Side, the Star Forge corrupted all who used it, force-sensitive or not. Furious, but nevertheless forced to agree, Kat consented, reasoning that the destruction of an entire Covenant armada was a turnaround enough. As it was, Kat had other, more personal concerns as well…

Noble Six had managed to survive the loss of his arm, and now a prosthetic replaced it. He had now lost both of the hands he had been born with, with machinery in their place. There was something rather depressing about that, but at the same time, Kat couldn't help but feel even closer to Six now they had both been so physically scarred by the war, both having lost an arm each…

Kat had checked up on Noble Six frequently, making sure that he was recuperating well. During one of the times she had been in the medical bay to check on him, she had seen that Jorge was there as well, and he had also been watching Noble Six.

"First his hand, now an arm. I wonder if anything will be left of poor Six when all is said and done…"

Kat found herself hit surprisingly hard by that. She couldn't bear to see the man she loved lose anymore of himself. She needed him, she realized, and not just because they and Jorge were the only surviving members of Noble Team. No, she needed him for more than that. And yes, she did love him. She could admit that fully now.

It was later when Noble Six was finally up and about again did Kat choose to confront him fully. He was outside of his armor, bare-chested, examining his prosthetic arm in a mirror. As Kat watched him she found that for all of her tactical brilliance in battle, she had no idea what to say to him. But Six was the first one to speak up:

"I can still use the Force you know…the mechanical hands don't change that…"

Kat was taken by surprise, but quickly composed herself as she gave her response.

"That's…good to know"

"Yeah…"

Noble Six turned to face Kat again and she was once again face-to-face with his true face. Not a helmet. She'd already seen it several times, but not this close. Not since Reach…

Reach, it seemed like years ago after all that had happened recently. Noble Six advanced closer to her.

"Kat, listen…I…I know that things have been so chaotic right now, not just with all that's been going on with the war, but with us as well, and…" Noble Six trailed off. Kat could see that the reassuring smile he'd first worn, and the sternness and determination that had been on his face on Reach, had both completely disappeared, replaced instead by uncertainty that she knew could only be one thing. Finally, he had closed the gap between them.

"Kat…throughout all of this we've been teammates, friends, but…after all of this…Dammit, I've never minced words, so I'm not going to now: I don't want us to remain as just friends. I love you Kat. And I want us to be together long after this war's over"

Maybe Kat had seen it coming. Maybe not. It didn't matter. She was still caught completely off-guard.

"Six I…"

Six cut her off when he gripped Kat in his arms and passionately brought his lips to hers. Initially taken off-guard, Kat quickly welcomed him and returned the kiss. Their lips separated so they could breath, and then Six kissed her again, leaning in to deepen it as their tongues started dueling furiously. Kat groaned as she and Six kept up their embrace. Finally, their lips broke apart, and they removed their clothing and armor. All of it. The two then resumed kissing one another, and were soon on the nearby bed in the room, making love. Finally, once their moment of ecstasy had come and gone, the two just laid in bed together, with Kat snuggled closely to Six.

"Six…"

"Yes?"

"Do you think we can be together? Find a place here?"

Six made small smirk. "I'm positive."

"But what about the others? The UNSC still needs us…"

There was silence. What Kat said was true. The UNSC still needed its SPARTANS, IIs and IIIs both. But Six and Kat had found happiness together. A happiness that wasn't supposed to exist between them. But neither one of them cared. Six loved Kat, and Kat loved him. They wanted to be together, away from all the strife, the wars, and the deaths. But it would be selfish to abandon the human race for their own pleasure, and both SPARTANS knew it. But neither wanted to risk losing the other. As SPARTANS they could definitely take care of themselves, but Six remembered how she had come so close to dying in New Alexandria to a lucky headshot, and Kat remembered all of the brushes with death Noble Six had already suffered.

Noble Six finally responded to Kat's question:

"We'll have to go back…we both know that, but…please promise me you won't die. Please"

"You first. Ah, Six…I can't promise anything…but I will stay by you. And I do love you."

And the two lovers kissed once more…

-X-

There was quite the celebration and awards ceremony for the Republic's new allies before they were to depart back to their galaxy in _The Glorious Savior, _and it was clear that a real sense of camaraderie had been formed between the two group's soldiers. Jorge had even added Pazaak to his list of many card games he played, and it wasn't long before he had come to dominate that one as well. The SPARTANS as a whole had gotten much praise from their Republic allies as the finest soldiers they had ever seen, and even their cruder weapons had gained an interest among the Republic Military.

Finally though, after all had been said and done, the UNSC forces gathered on _The Glorious Savior, _and Master Chief and the other SPARTANS had one final exchange with their closest allies from this other galaxy. Master Chief personally shook hands with Daemon.

"I guess this is good-bye for now…thanks again for helping rescue Blue Team…their all the family I've got left…"

"Just doing a Jedi's job of aiding the innocent."

"Yeah…sorry about your ship though."

"Water under the bridge. A ship for two galaxies seems like a good trade"

Master Chief almost found himself laughing at that. "Yeah…"

"Well, may the force be with you, and your people…John"

Master Chief was taken off-guard by Daemon using his real name. Daemon smiled.

"The power of the force."

"Right…"

And so, after final good-byes had been said and given, _The Glorious Savior _took off, prepped its hyperdrive, and disappeared into lightspeed.

-X-

The UNSC frigate _Olympian's Torch _found itself being hit hard on all sides by not one, but a trio of Covenant super-carriers. The frigate was aflame, and it would only take a bit more punishment before being completely destroyed. The Admiral had already ordered a full scale evacuation. On board the lead supercarrier, the Elite Shipmaster sneered with sadistic glee.

"HA! Another pack of human vermin doomed to die at our Covenant's hand. Their whole race will burn all too easily…"

But then, out of nowhere, came a vessel that this Covenant super-carrier had never seen before, suddenly bearing down on them. On board, Kurt gave the order:

"Bring those bastards down"

**Epilogue 1**

HOLOCRON RECORDING:

"It has been weeks since my husband and master has disappeared and the invasion failed. And unrest grows amongst the remaining Sith, I have seen it. They're convinced Revan will not return, so they fight amongst themselves. The betrayals mount. And no matter who wins, the Sith will lose. There is no one left with the power to control the Star Forge, though many have already tried and failed. I've watched them be devoured, their life drained from them as they attempt to tap into its power. Knowing what we do of the builders and their fate, I am beginning to think that Revan did not ever intend us to keep the Star Forge. To continue to use it would mean the end of the Sith. I have done as Revan asked I do in the event of his disappearance and remain here, but he has been gone for too long, and I will wait no longer. Whoever survives this "Sith Civil War" if any, shall not be the ones I wish to follow. There is only Revan. Only he can shape this galaxy as it is meant to be shaped. He lives still, this I know. If he will not return, then I shall follow and discover why. I cannot remain here, not knowing. I've become certain that there is something he remembered in the Unknown Regions. It is a technique he learned while fighting the Mandalorians, that allowed him to control the last of the Jedi, who fought beside him, and slay those who would not. And he fears it is still out there…and silent for far too long…"

And with this, Bastila Shan ended her Holocron recording. She stepped out of the room, locked it with the Dark Side of the Force to ensure that none could open it, and left the academy on Korriban with HK-47 at her side. Together, the last two followers of Darth Revan boarded his ship, the Ebon Hawk, and began their search for their master…

**Epilogue 2**

Supreme Commander Thel 'Vadamee had been disgraced.

It had taken the Elite weeks to return to his own galaxy by way of a stolen smuggler's ship. Upon his return to the Covenant Capital High Charity, he was forced to relate the entire story of the Fleet of Particular Justice's encounter and alliance with the Sith, their corruption at the Sith's hands, the Halo Ring, the ring's destruction, and ultimately, his escape back to High Charity. Though initially condemned and ridiculed as a madman, Thel ultimately managed to convince the council and the hierarchs that he spoke the truth.

It was just a shame that the truth yielded a no less merciful sentence then one for a madman.

In addition to being punished for pursuing an alliance with humans, Thel was also held accountable for the sacred ring's destruction. And so Thel 'Vadamee was stripped of his rank and tortured for all to see before being dragged nude before two of the three hierarchs, the Prophets of Truth, and Mercy, respectively, in the Mausoleum of the Arbiter of all places. The Prophet of Truth eyed Thel with callous harshness.

"The Council decided to have you hung by your entrails and your corpse paraded through the city. But ultimately, the terms of your execution are up to me."

"I am already dead."

"Indeed. Do you know where we are?"

"The Mausoleum of the Arbiter."

"Quite so. Here rests the vanguard of the Great Journey. Every Arbiter, from first to last. Each one created and consumed in times of extraordinary crisis."

The Prophet of Mercy spoke up, with a voice that was old and withered, but no less contemptuous then that of his counterpart.

"The taming of the Malekegolo, the Unggoy rebellion. Were it not for the Arbiters, the Covenant would have broken long ago!"

"What does the Arbiter's glory have to do with my shame?"

"I am disappointed Thel. I would have thought you knew the ways of the Covenant by now. Or have you truly become a full heretic?"

"No holy one! I know…The Arbiter is given to those who have been disgraced…those such as myself"

"Correct. Though you can no longer lead troops into battle as you were, if you become the Arbiter, than we will let you loose on our enemies once more with our blessing."

Thel looked at the set of archaic steel-gray armor that was now presented before him. He did not spend much time considering. What choice was there really? Best to accept his destiny…

Thel grabbed the helmet. It was cool to the touch, and as he placed it on his head, he turned to the two Prophets.

"What would you have your Arbiter do?"

**Epilogue 3**

Revan sat meditating in his escape pod when he was suddenly shaken out of his inner thoughts by the sound of the accompanying Elite's voice. Only it was not the Elite's voice. It was a darker, groggily voice…a voice that sounded unlike anything Revan had ever heard before.

"You…you are of a unique breed…a fusion of flesh and elements, pride, and power…you are comfortable in your existence, your mind fully concluded, yet always hungering for more…"

Revan raised an eyebrow.

"And who might you be, exactly?"

"I…I am a monument to all of your race's sins. And I have questions about this world…this strange world that I and my children do not understand. And _you_ will answer them."

Revan smirked as he gave his reply:

"All right. Shoot"

**Author's Note: And that my friends, concludes what is without a doubt the largest single piece of writing I have done in my life thus far. I am extremely pleased with how it turned out, and I'm definitely quite grateful for all of the reviews I've gotten up to this point. Thanks to everyone who held in for so long. I hope you all enjoyed this. And may the Force be with you.**


End file.
